Last of the Line
by The 19th Angel
Summary: Vale is the last heir to the Beleth clan. After running away from the Underworld 5 years ago he runs into Issei Hyoudo and Rias Gremory soon after. Now he must start his own peerage to restore his family's name and prove he is worthy of the title of King Beleth his ancestor once held, that's the easy part. Now he has to learn how to behave like a pureblood, easier said than done...
1. Chapter 1

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale Beleth.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, as a few of you may know, I am the 19th Angel. Recently I've had an idea for a DxD story. At first, it was just a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. But then, it started to grow, until I got tunnel vision, causing it to eclipse all other writing ideas I had. It was very similar to the way my story, A New Kind of Ashikabi came to me while at work one day. I can only hope that this will be half as popular as that one was. So, here it is. This story will follow the last head/heir of the Beleth clan, one of the original 72 Pillars families. It will show his journey to build his own peerage and restore his family to power, as well as his attempts to adapt to High-Class Devil life.

Chapter 1- Something Old, Something New

_BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!_

Vale threw his arm out towards his alarm clock, somehow he managed to hit the off switch on the first try. He threw off the covers as he literally jumped out of bed, landing on the tatami floor with a solid thump. He walked over to his closet on the other side of the room before throwing open the doors and searching through the sparsely furnished closet and fishing out his favorite pair of jeans. They were plain and black and jugged his body just right. They were also sporting a set of nasty looking claw marks across the butt of the jeans.

"Dammit! That Stray Devil last night must have got me without me realizing it. Well at least _my_ butt's okay." he said as he patted down his glutes, checking for injuries and was satisfied to learn that he was uninjured. He grabbed a different pair of gray jeans and pulled them on before walking to the desk that occupied the corner of his room an picking up his cell phone and hitting the redial button. It rang twice before the person on the other end picked up.

"Hello-nyo."

"Hey Mil-tan, it's me, Vale. I found that figure you wanted, still no progress on the whole making you a magical girl thing, but I'm working on it. So what time should I drop the figure by your house?" he asked, making sure to speak in Japanese(his native tongue is English) as he picked the box containing aforementioned figure up and examined it before setting it back down on his desk.

"I just got off work and I'm at the gym stop by my house at 9:30. How much do I owe you this time-nyo?"

"Well, let's see with travel expenses and time put in... It comes out to just over ¥20,000. We doing cash or check this time?"

"Twenty-thousand? Last time it was less that ten-thousand! Why is it so expensive this time-nyo?" Mil-tan asked indignantly.

"I had to go to Portugal to get this thing! You're lucky I used magic to get there or it'd run you over one-hundred thousand. Mil-tan I like you, I really do. But I got rent to pay, man. My real family is dead with absolutely zero money. I can't ask my foster parents for money or they'll have me brought back to the Underworld, probably. C'mon, please man. I need this." Vale replied.

"Alright, fine-nyo. Drop by around 9:30-nyo." Mil-tan said before hanging up with a click.

Vale closed the phone as he finished getting dressed. He walked out into the living room and threw a few slices of pizza in the microwave before retrieving his laptop from the couch and opening his email.

"Alrighty, no change on the bounty for the Exiled Exorcist and the Fallen Angels in this town. They confirmed my Stray Devil kill from last night and payment should arrive in a few days. That makes 32 E-class kills, 29 D-Class, 21 C-Class, 14 B-Class, 3 A-Class. No S-Class ones open right now anywhere near here." he said to no one in particular.

For the last 5 years since he'd left the Underworld, he'd made a living by hunting down Stray Devils and Fallen Angels, while at the same time fulfilling contracts for various mortals. It was a decent, honest living for any Devil. It allowed him to travel the world and test his skills. which had let him turn his aptitude for using his demonic power into pure profit. But at the same time, it prevented him from forming any real attachments to anyone. It was true that he got lonely, but he preferred solitude to the way people had treated him in the Underworld. Approximately five and a half years ago, while on a field trip with his class to a museum about the Great War. While they were there, an artifact in the museum had reacted to him, revealing him as the last pure-blooded heir to the Beleth house. Shortly after, people had started to treat him differently. People who had ignored him had started to ask him for favors, but when he told them he didn't have any money or contacts his family had once had, they had started to shun him and his best friends. They claimed he had mountains of riches from his family, he was just a selfish rich boy that didn't wanna share.

Then, one day he came home to find his parents (who he now knew to be his foster parents) talking to someone from the Sitri clan. Which he found out the next day had been about arranging his marriage to some girl named Sona, someone he'd never even met. That was the final straw, he'd ran away later that night. He escaped the Underworld and fled to the human world. Ever since then, he'd done whatever he could to get by. It'd been tough, but he liked his current life better than any he would've had in the Underworld after people figured out who he was.

He finished his breakfast and grabbed a toothpick to clean his teeth with and headed back to his room before throwing a light hoodie on as he checked the time.

"Alrighty 1:30 PM, still bright and early. Let's go make some money." he said as he tucked his wings in behind him as he headed over to the mirror to groom himself for the night ahead of him.

He grabbed a comb off the counter and ran it through his messy, neck length, ebony hair. He checked himself for injuries once more before confirming he was indeed uninjured. After he made sure he looked presentable, he grabbed his skateboard and backpack before stowing Mil-tan's figure in the backpack and took off for Kuoh Academy. Yesterday he'd found several Fallen Angel feathers at a fountain near there. And one of the students, one Issei Hyoudo was going on about some Yuuma Amano that he was claiming was his girlfriend one day. Who none of the other students claimed to remember the morning after. Memory alteration was a classic indicator of a mid-level Fallen Angel. He threw on a pair of sunglasses to shield his sensitive eyes from the sun and climbed down to street-level before taking off for Kuoh Academy on his skateboard at a nice, leisurely pace.

He arrived at Kuoh Academy just in time to see the students getting out of school. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and examined it. It was a print-off of Issei Hyoudo's file from the school mainframe, complete with ID picture. He watched the students stream from the academy, noting that many of the students were girls, and extremely pretty ones at that. He watched for another few minutes until he saw Issei exiting the school with two other boys, one bald, the other with glasses.

"Hey man I got Angel Blade last night. Wanna head to my place and check it out with me?" the bald one asked the other two.

"Yeah man, totally. Have you seen the tits on that chick? I'd love to bury my face in those things." the one in glasses said. Issei looked like he was about to say something when Vale called out.

"Hello Hyoudo-san. Might I have a moment of your time?" Vale asked as he chewed on the toothpick still in his mouth. The three boys turned to look at the young man standing on the sidewalk.

"Yo man, just ignore him, that dude's bad news. He looks like a drug dealer. Let's just head home." the bald one chimed in.

"Yeah sorry, I gotta get going. Besides, I don't have any money." Issei said as he re-situated his backpack to his other shoulder.

"Yeah sure, you can head home. Spend the rest of the night with your hands on your dick. Or you can come with me and tell me about Yuuma Amano." He called over, making sure to emphasize the name as he watched Issei freeze in his tracks and turn to face him.

"You know about Yuuma?" Issei asked in a choked voice.

"A little, but I'm more interested about what you know. Now are you certain I can't borrow you for a few minutes." Vale called over.

_15 minutes later..._

"So lemme get this straight. She asked you to be her boyfriend, you went on a date, then when you got to the fountain she attacked you, right?" Vale asked Issei as they walked down the park walkway to the fountain in the center.

"No, I'm telling you, she killed me. She threw this spear made of light at me, it hit me in the chest and killed me. Next thing I know, I'm waking up naked in bed!" Issei exclaimed as they neared the fountain.

"Anything else you can remember? Seeing as how you are walking and talking, something else had to have happened." he asked as he chewed on the toothpick once more.

"Well, I remember seeing this long red hair and hearing this girl saying, 'from now on you live for my sake'. That's all I remember. Does that help at all?" he asked as he turned to face the young man walking next to him.

"Actually, Mr Hyoudo... It might." Vale said as he flipped his note pad shut and stuffed it in his back pocket.

_If he's still alive after being killed by a Fallen Angel, it means he's most likely been reincarnated as someone's servant... which means I'm operating in someone else's turf. Oh crap, I may have to remedy this situation soon. _He thought to himself nervously, when he was snapped out of hid thoughts by Issei saying.

"Well, is that all you need to know, um... I'm sorry I never caught your name." Issei said apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm Vale Beleth. And yes, that's all I needed Hyoudo-san." Vale replied casually.

"That doesn't sound Japanese. Now that I say it, you don't look Japanese either. Where are you from?"

"My name is English, it means he who lives in the valley. I move around alot, so I guess you can say I'm kinda from everywhere." he replied. Issei opened his mouth to speak when they were interrupted by a man saying,

"Well, well, well, two Devils in one day, looks like I'm in luck. Where is your master? Who do you serve? If you refuse to answer I will assume you are strays and will deal with you accordingly." said a man in a pale violet trenchcoat, with a white ascot, a black fedora, and black dress pants. Vale watched with interest as 2 black feathery wings spread out behind him.

"What's he talking about? What master?" Issei began to sputter until the man interrupted, saying

"Since you have failed to answer me I will assume you are strays. Prepare to die!" the Fallen Angel said as a blue spear of light appeared in his hands and he hurled it towards Issei and Vale. Before the spear had crossed half of the distance between the two parties, Vale leaped forward and tackled Issei out of the way of the spear of light. Vale's superhuman strength carried them both clear across the walkway behind a tree.

"Ouch goddamn! What was that thing?" Issei said as he clutched his leg tightly. Vale looked down to see a long nasty cut running down Issei's thigh, Vale knew it had to hurt more than it looked since it came from a Fallen Angel's spear.

"Alrighty kid, you're obviously new at this, so here's the deal. You're gonna nut up and I'm gonna cauterize the wound, then whoever reincarnated you can explain things. Here we go!" Vale explained as he hiked up Issei's pant leg and thrust his now-glowing hand against the wound. There was a sizzling sound and the acrid smell of burning flesh filled Vale's nostrils as he cauterized the wound with a flame spell.

"AAAARGH!" Issei screamed in pain before slumping against the tree, obviously unconscious. After making sure that Issei was out cold, Vale stood up and walked out from behind the tree to see the Fallen Angel still searching for him He put his fingers to his lips and gave a shrill whistle. Dohnaseek turned to face the sound of the noise.

"Alright, now that the square is gone. Let's dance!" Vale said as he clapped his hands together, watching as the black magic circle appeared between them and a black handle extended from one side. He wrapped his left hand around the handle and pulled. Dohnaseek watched with interest as Vale pulled the long, black, single-edged sword from the magic circle.

"That's an impressive trick, but a sword won't help you against me." Dohnaseek sneered as another spear of light appeared in his hand.

"Oh, poor Dohnaseek. This is no ordinary sword, this is a blade made by Muramasa, the demon smith. This sword is none other than the Juuchi Yosamu, that means: 10,000 Cold Nights in Japanese. It is technically a demon blade, meaning that it is extremely effective against Fallen Angels like you. Now prepare yourself!" Vale exclaimed. Dohnaseek scowled, he didn't know how this boy knew his name. But he was going to kill him before he could cause any trouble for Lady Raynare.

Dohnaseek rushed forward towards Vale and stabbed at the Devil's chest. Vale saw through the move and parried Dohnaseek's thrust before leaping back and landing a few meters away from the fountain.

"Well, if you're going to be like that, the I guess I'll have to step my game up a bit. Behold the the power of the Beleth clan! Behold the Abyss Physique!" Vale exclaimed as he extended his unoccupied right hand. Dohnaseek clutched a hand to his hat to prevent it from blowing away as a powerful gale swept through the park, blowing his hair across his face. He brushed his hair behind his ear to see that the source of the gale was none other than a large sphere of wind that had appeared in Vale's outstretched hand.

"Compress!" Vale said as the sphere shrunk down to the size of a baseball.

"Bind!" He said as it disappeared inside a magic circle that had appeared on his palm.

"Incorporate!" He said, causing a series of swirling, flowing black lines to appear all over his body.

"Activate!" He exclaimed as a powerful wind shot out from his body, causing Dohnaseek's hair to once more obscure his vision. After he cleared his vision, he saw the boy was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, Dohnaseek felt a presence approaching from behind and spread his wings and took to the air just in time to avoid the incoming strike. As soon as he felt he was safely out of harms way, he looked around for the source of the attack.

"Awww, that's too bad. I was hoping to finish this in one blow." A voice said from behind and below Dohanseek. He turned to see the source of the voice was none other than the same devil he had attacked earlier. Except this time his body was covered in glowing white lines and his hair had turned white with a bright, slightly green-blue color at the edges of it and he seemed to be generating a mildly strong wind around himself.

"Impressive trick, but it won't save you. Take this!" Dohanseek declared as he hurled his spear toward the boy only for him to spread his wings leap towards Dohnaseek and slashed 3 times with his sword. He quickly closed the distance between them, making sure to avoid the Fallen Angel's spear. Dohnaseek formed a new spear and moved to stab Vale with it when he felt the three air blades Vale had launched cut his chest in long, shallow lines. His spear fizzled out as he lost concentration, and Vale took the opportunity to finish the job and raised his sword to finish off the Fallen Angel. Dohnaseek managed to avoid his attack, but not before Vale managed to cut his right arm off with a mighty swing from his sword.

"Aargh! You'll pay for that, you runt!" Dohnaseek screeched angrily as he clutched his remaining arm to the bloody stump of its fallen brother. The Devil hovering across from him only grinned as he opened hit mouth to answer he was interrupted by a woman calling out.

"Not as dearly as whichever one of you injured my servant. Now tell me, which of you is responsible for this!"

Vale turned to see the voice belonged to a young woman who appeared to be in her late teens with a buxom figure. She had a light skin tone, far too light to be from Japan, if he had to guess he'd say she was from somewhere in Europe. She had sharp, blue-green eyes that seemed to see right through him. Her most distinctive feature by far was her long, crimson red hair that reached down to her thighs as she pointed angrily towards Issei, who was still out cold against the tree.

"Hmph if it isn't Rias Gremory, the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess herself. This battles getting too hot for me. I pray none of us ever meet again." Dohnaseek said as he opened a magic circle and disappeared. Vale descended to ground level again and was about to speak when he was interrupted by the girl saying,

"Are you the one who injured my servant?" she asked as what appeared to be an ominous looking crimson and black aura surrounded one of her hands.

"No, that injury was caused by a Fallen Angel you just saw leave. I only burned him to cauterize the wound and prevent infection. Now if you'd be so kind as to put that spell of yours away, perhaps we can be civil." he said politely as he folded his wings in. The girl narrowed her eyes at him before dispelling the nasty looking aura around her hand. As she did he released the flow of demonic power powering his Abyss Physique, causing the lines to disappear an his hair to return to it's normal black color.

"Well then, I must thank you for saving my servant then. I am Rias, next head of the house of Gremory. And you are?" She asked.

"I am Vale Beleth. Next-slash-current head of the house of Beleth. I just have to say, it's an honor to meet you Rias. I didn't realize this was your turf, I'm sorry for operating here without your permission. I've heard many tales of your beauty and power. I must say the beauty part seems to be particularly understated." He said with a smile. Rias narrowed her eyes menacingly at hims as she replied.

"You either think me a fool or you yourself are one. It is common knowledge that the house of Beleth is extinct. Now who are you really?" she asked as she manifested the crimson and black aura once more.

"I assure you, I'm exactly who I said I am." he said nonchalantly as he extended his hand and concentrated some of his magic in it causing a pattern to appear on the back of it.

"Then prove it." she said.

"I'm trying to." he said simply as he nodded towards his hand. Rias glanced down at his hand and saw what was unmistakably a family crest on the back of his hand. She didn't recognize it right off the bat, but it was black crest, and only 4 families had black crests, and each of them was extremely powerful at their height. Vale watched on with interest as a red magic circle opened up behind her and an attractive woman with long black hair appeared in it.

"Akeno, take Issei back to his house and heal him. I have an important matter that needs attending to."

"Of course, Buchou." the new girl said with a bow, before picking up Issei and teleporting away with him.

"Come with me, please. There are some things we need to discuss. Follow me if you'd please." she said as a magic circle opened behind her.

"Okay, I've got some time." he said as he followed her into the magic circle. The next thing he knew, he was inside a dimly lit wood-paneled room with Victorian-style couches and chairs along the walls. One side was set up to be able to be used as a bath. A large desk sat at the front of the room in front of a large magic circle that was drawn on the floor. A small, white haired girl in a school uniform sat on a couch next to a blonde-haired boy with black pants and a blazer.

"Kiba, Koneko, give us the room." Rias said in a voice that left no room for argument. They both nodded and headed for the door.

"Please, have a seat. I will return momentarily." Rias said as she exited through a small door. Vale walked over and flopped onto a chair. Rias returned several minutes later and took a seat at the desk.

"Hey if this is about me operating on your turf. I sincerely apologize, and if you want me to take my operations elsewhere, I completely understand." He said apologetically as he sat up in the chair.

"No, this has nothing to do with that. But, I do have a few questions Beleth-san, if you don't mind that is." she said as she removed a few papers from the desk.

"Please, call me Vale, and ask away. In that order preferably." he said with a smirk. Rias gave him a quizzical look before asking.

"How many of you are there? I'm not just talking about pieces, I'm talking about all of your servants, familiar included." she asked as she got out a pen.

"Just me. Why would you think I have servants, I don't even have a familiar, much less a peerage. I thought only High-class Devils got them." he said with a shrug.

"But... You are a High-Class Devil." Rias said slowly.

"...No, I'm not. I was raised by a Low-Class family. Ergo, I'm a Low-Class Devil." he replied slowly.

"But, you were born to the Beleth Clan, family crests only appear on pure-blood Devils. That makes you a High-Class Devil, so you don't even have any pieces? Why didn't you get any when you came of age?" Rias asked.

"Nope, never got any pieces. Probably because I ran away from the Underworld when I was only 12." he replied with a noncommittal shrug.

"Why would you do something like that?" she asked inquisitively as she clicked the pen.

"Well, let's just say that when people find out you come from what used to be money they treat you differently and they do stupid stuff. Like trying to marry you off to someone you've never met." he added the last part like he was talking to himself.

"Well, can you tell me more about why you ran away?" she asked quietly as she set the pen down. Vale couldn't help but feel he had piqued her personal interest.

"Nah, I don't wanna bore you with my sob story." he said evasively with a wave of his hand.

"Please?" she asked quietly.

So, over the next hour and a half he told Rias the story of why he left the Underworld even the part about his parents trying to marry him off to one of the Sitris. Rias listened to his entire story with rapt attention, seeming to hang on his every word. She asked that he spare no detail until, finally he finished. After that, Rias excused herself exited the room for ten minutes. When she returned, she was not alone.

"Oh. My. God." Vale said, utterly awestruck at the sight of who followed Rias back into the room. He almost felt the need to stand up and bow.

"Hello, I'm Rias' brother-" the man began.

"Sirzechs Lucifer, the King of the Underworld. Sir, it is an honor." Vale said as he stood from his chair, but he did not bow. He was a free agent, beholden to no man above, on, or below the Earth.

"I must say the honor is mine. When I heard the Beleth clan was till alive 5 years ago, I thought they must be lying, when Ajuka(Sirzechs and Ajuka are best friends and would not use honorifics to refer to each other) went to give you your Evil Pieces and you weren't there. So how are you Beleth-san? How are you and my sister getting along?" he asked before taking a seat on a couch and patting the seat beside him Rias strode over and took a seat next to him. Vale sat back down as he said,

"Well, I'm doing okay. Money's a little tight, but I can't complain. As for your sister, I've only known her a few hours or so, but she seems nice enough. Though, I should go on record as saying I do find her very attractive." he replied. That comment managed to elicit a small smile from Rias. While Sirzechs replied,

"That she is, well I appreciate your candor on that matter. But I came to tell you, that I along with the other Satans are very excited to see that you are alright and we all wish to see you and your family in general returned to their former status. The Beleth clan was founded by King Beleth, and we hope to see you attain that title once more. We've spent the last hour or so reviewing your actions over the past 5 years and I've gotta say, we're very hopeful about you. Now unfortunately, Ajuka is busy doing whatever it is he does. Serafall-chan has a TV show to film. And Falbium-kun... well, he's just lazy. But I'm here to welcome you back to the High-Class society of Devils, and to commemorate this event, we want you to have this." Sirzechs said as he slid a small, black box across the table between the chair and couch. Vale took it from the table and opened it to see a set of 15 chess pieces made of a substance he couldn't place.

"These are your Evil Pieces. You can us them to reincarnate mortals or other individual as a Devil into your service as your own servant. Now, be warned their power is not absolute. Also, more powerful people cost more pieces. Certain pieces have certain abilities. Rooks have power and defense. Knights have advanced speed. Bishops have large amounts of magical power. Queens have all of that. Pawns, with your permission, can promote inside enemy territory into another piece. Choose your servants wisely and they will take you far in life. Choose poorly, and not so much." Sirzechs said informatively.

"Huh, so does this mean I can have my own peerage?" Vale asked as he closed the box and tucked it into his pocket.

"Indeed, it does. Now, this new privilege comes certain responsibilities. If you are to join High-Class society, you need to learn how to comport yourself and any future family you may have. Since you seem to get along so well with Rias, she will be responsible for making sure your High-Class education is carried out sufficiently. The Phenex's cannot do it, as they all reside in the Underworld and we do not wish to inconvenience them, because I assume you wish to remain on Earth or you would have returned by now. I think given certain past events, the Sitri's are an unwise choice in this matter. Is this alright with you Rias?" Sirzechs asked as he turned towards Rias.

"I think I could manage that, yes. As long as Vale-san doesn't mind helping out around the clubhouse from time to time." Rias replied serenely.

"That's fine with me. But hey, I've got a client to get to in half an hour. We'll talk more about this later." Vale said as he stood up and grabbed his backpack.

"That's fine, I'll be in touch. I think it'd be best if you moved in here with Rias, but I'll leave that decision up to you two. Now, if you'll excuse me , I have to go. Grayfia will no doubt be back to retrieve me if I tarry much longer. I look forward to seeing how you progress, Vale-san." Sirzechs said as he stood up and left the room.

"Hey Rias, I'll be back in a few hours. We'll talk more then." Vale said as he neared the door. Rias nodded to him as she followed her brother back through the back door as Vale opened the front door and headed outside as he flipped open his phone and hit redial.

"Hello-nyo."

"Hey Mil-tan, it's Vale. I'm on my way over. By the way, you still wanna become a Magical Girl?" he asked as he pulled out the case containing his Evil Pieces and pulled out and examined a Rook...

Author's Note: Here it is, I'm pretty happy with this first chapter. Vale's Abyss Physique was inspired by Magia Erebea from Negima, but I put my own spin on it. I know who I want him to end up with, but we'll see what happens. Also, big shout out to Sangai-Havoc for his help on the project, he was a huge help. My planned peerage for him so far in order is,

Mil-Tan-Rook

Raynare-Bishop

Irina-Knight

Vali-Pawn(All 8 of them)\

Kuroka-Bishop

Bikou-Rook

Siegfried-Knight

Tiamat or Fafnir- Queen

PM me with any ideas, questions, or comments you have about the story. Please, if you have time, do review. This is The 19th Angel, signing off...


	2. Chapter 2

Last of the Line

I don't own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty, normally I'd start on a chapter of another story after uploading a new one. But, I've gotten a lot of request to update soon, so here it is. Also, a lot of complaints about Irina as his Knight. I understand your complaints, but keeping her as Michael's Ace would make the Vali/Irina pairing I have planned a little... complicated. All I'm gonna say on the matter currently is that Vale spent about a year in England after arriving on Earth, working for the descendant of the Fisher King. Also, in an attempt to prevent any flaming of Vale, his dad was from the Beleth Clan, while his mother, was from the Paimon Clan(because if both his parents were from the same clan it's inbreeding while if his mother wasn't a pure-blood Devil he wouldn't be a pure-blood). Which is why his second ability, Drain Zero, is possible. Before anyone calls shenanigans on my character creation, Rias and Sirzechs both have the Power of Destruction from the Bael Clan, while at least Sirzechs is confirmed to have the Gremory's massive amount of magical power. So there you have it, I just successfully established a precedent for dual clan abilities. Also, it should be noted that Viser, the Stray Devil is dead already in this story, she was the stray mentioned last chapter.

Chapter 2- Settling Into The New Digs

Vale arrived outside Mil-tan's apartment a few minutes after leaving Kuoh Academy. He picked up his skateboard and started to climb the stairwell. He arrived at Mil-tan's door a few minutes later and knocked 3 times on it.

"Come in-nyo." Mil-tan called from inside. Vale reached out and opened the door to see Mil-tan hunched over his desk pouring over the new volume of Magical Girl.

"Hey Mil-tan, I got something for you." Vale said as he reached into his backpack and fished out the figure he'd procured in Lisbon a few days ago before placing it on the table that sat next to the door. Mil-tan turned and got up from the chair and walked over and examined the box.

"Thanks, here's your payment-nyo." Mil-tan said as he handed Vale a stack of bills. Vale pocketed it without counting it, he knew Mil-tan was good for it.

"Hey Mil-tan, I got something else if you're interested. You still wanna be a magical girl, right?" Vale asked. Mil-tan whirled around and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"More than anything! Have you discovered a way to make Mil-tan a Magical Girl?" Mil-tan asked excitedly.

"Hands. Off." Vale said darkly. Mil-tan quickly removed his hands from Vale's shoulders.

"But there is a catch Mil-tan. If I turn you into a Magical Girl, you also become a Devil. Not only that, but you will have to work for me if you become a Devil. Eventually though, you can get your own servants if you prove capable enough. But once you do this, you cannot go back on it. This is a one-way trip, so to speak." he replied.

"It doesn't matter! Mil-tan will give anything to have magical powers!" Mil-tan said as he once again grabbed Vale by the shoulders.

"Dude! Again, hands off! You know what? No, no more free Magical Girl deal! Now you have to earn it! Outside, now!" Vale said as he briskly exited the room and vaulted the railing, landing on the ground below with a thud. Mil-tan sprinted down the staircase before coming to a stop at the bottom.

"What do I have to do? I will do anything to become a Magical Girl! Just name your price-nyo." Mil-tan said desperately. Vale fished out his Evil Pieces from his backpack and took out a Rook from the case.

"If you wanna be a Magical Girl, you have to earn it! See this Piece?" he asked as he held the Rook up in front of him. Mil-tan nodded in response.

"You have to take it from me if you want it." Vale finished. Less than a second after he finished, Mil-tan rushed at him at a speed even a few Devils would envy with a hand outstretched towards the piece. As he neared though, Vale ducked down low and swept his leg out, sweeping Mil-tan's legs out from under him. Mil-tan tumbled towards the ground but recovered his balance before he hit the ground, flipping around mid-tumble landing with one hand out to stabilize him with both legs spread out behind him. He wasted no time in charging Vale once more. As he neared him, Vale slammed his leg into Mil-tan's solar plexus. Mil-tan grunted as Vale's kick knocked the wind from him. Before Vale could remove his leg from Mil-tan's torso, Mil-tan seized his leg in both hands and threw him into the nearest wall. Vale slammed into the wall with a thud. Vale held up a hand as Mil-tan charged him once more. Mil-tan slid to a stop halfway towards the wall.

"Alrighty, good stuff. You are going to make one fantastic Rook. Let's do it, Mil-tan! Let's head back up to your apartment." Vale said as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. Mil-tan followed him upstairs back to his apartment.

"So what do we do now, what happens next?" Mil-tan asked as he followed Vale through the door and closed the door behind him.

"Mil-tan, if I turn you into a Devil, do you promise to serve with unwavering loyalty?" Vale asked as he turned to face Mil-tan. Mil-tan nodded wordlessly. Vale took his hand with the Evil Piece and placed against Mil-tan's chest.

"Then, by my power as a King, I hereby declare you my Rook. From now on you will lead the charge against my enemies. Be reborn as my servant! Serve me well and you will be rewarded, fail me and not so much." Vale said as he channeled his magic into the Rook piece, causing it to turn a shade of black so dark it seemed to pull in the surrounding light, and causing a black magic circle to appear on the floor before the Evil Piece sank into Mil-tan's chest as a pair of bat-like wings extended from his back.

"Alrighty be at this address at 4:30 tomorrow. Get plenty of rest, make sure to sleep in or you'll wake up too tired to be useful. You're a Devil now, daylight isn't your cup of tea anymore." Vale said as he pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled the address of the old Kuoh Academy schoolhouse.

"And before you ask, I'll teach you some magic when I feel you're ready for it. Not a moment before, now excuse me. I have somewhere to be."

"Yes sir, I won't let you down-nyo." Mil-tan sad with a small bow as Vale turned and left the apartment.

"I should hope not." Vale said as he closed the door behind him.

_30 minutes later..._

Rias sat at her desk hunched over an old book about the 72 Pillars. More specifically she was reading the section on the Beleth Clan, the book confirmed that the crest on Vale's hand was indeed the crest of the house of Beleth. The book also told about their Abyss Physique ability, but the details were sketchy at best. It described the ability as 'a physically mercurial abyss that draws in everything and swallows it up, incorporating it into it's own design.' That description, along with every one of the ability after that seemed to raise more questions than answers. Rias finally gave up and shut the book with a thump and removed her glasses and set them on the table as she rubbed her eyes tiredly as she leaned back in her chair. Kiba and Koneko were out on contracts, Akeno was off healing her newest servant. Which meant that she was, for the moment, alone. That is, until she heard a knock at the schoolhouse door.

"Come in." she called from her desk. The door opened and Vale poked his head inside.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked as he stepped inside.

"Not much. So hey, I was thinking that we'd start your education on High-Class society in a few days, I have a new servant joining my peerage tomorrow, and I wanna make sure he's settled in before I start with you." she said.

"That seems reasonable, I've also got a new servant starting tomorrow. So hey, your brother mentioned something about me maybe moving in here. Would you be okay with that?" he asked as he set his backpack on the ground and took a seat in a chair and removed his shows.

"I don't see a problem with that. You can use one of the old dorm rooms if you want, I'll also set aside a few rooms for any future servants you add to your peerage. On that note, I must say I'm impressed that you found a servant so quickly. Which Piece did you use on them?" Rias asked as she surreptitiously stowed the book in one of her desk drawers.

"I used one of my Rooks. You gotta see the guy, built like a freaking truck, he's gonna be a hell of a Rook. So if I'm living here, does this mean we're living together?" he asked with a grin as he propped his feet up on the table in front of him.

"Ufufu, I guess it does." she said with a chuckle.

"Living together with a beautiful girl less than a day after meeting her, and here I thought I was so old-fashioned." he said with a chuckle.

"Well, that aside. Mind if I ask you a few questions? It's about your battle with that Fallen Angel earlier." she asked as she stowed her glasses back in their case.

"Go right ahead." Vale said as he fished his laptop out of his backpack and opened it and started to check his email.

"What were you doing talking to Issei in that park earlier?" she asked curiously.

"I was trying to ascertain anything I could regarding the Fallen Angels and Exiled Exorcist that are hiding somewhere in this town. I've managed to figure out that the church a few miles away is under the control of the Fallen Angels. Also, the one that killed Hyoudo-san appears to be the leader, but I can't be sure."

"Wow, you're really good at this. Okay, so did you know anything about the Fallen Angel that attacked you?" she replied, obviously intrigued

"His name is Dohnaseek, typical low-level lackey. No special achievements to speak of. If you'd given me a few more minutes he'd be dead by now." he replied casually as he began to check his Facebook account.

"About that, what was that magic you were using during that fight? I've never seen anything like that."

"I could say the same about that nasty looking aura you were generating. What you saw was a variant of the Beleth clan's Abyss Physique. Instead of fusing other body parts or weapons with my body, I used elemental magic. Nothing big, just a basic air cutter spell. Bigger spells generate more spectacular effects, but each new spell I fuse with myself generates a different form with a different ability. But, each new form takes a little bit of practice to master. I've got some really impressive ones involving Ice and Lightning spells and even a few nice Fire ones."

"Wait, back up what do you mean about fusing weapons or body parts with yourself?"

"My clan's ability allows me to fuse basically anything I desire with my body but... the effects are not always reversible. Which is why I use magic, it allows me to switch it on and off at will. Also, sometimes the manner of fusing other things is...messy. But anyways what's the deal with that spell you were using back at the park?" he replied hesitantly

"That's just the Bael clan's Power of Destruction. Would you mind showing me a few more of your forms?" she asked.

"I'll show you mine, if you show me yours." he said with a grin as he closed his laptop. Rias smiled back at him as she said,

"Fine, here you go." she said as she concentrated the Power of Destruction into her right hand and showed it to Vale. Vale stood up and walked over, until he stood across Rias' desk from her.

"May I?" he asked as he reached out toward her hand. Rias nodded wordlessly. He reached out and gently wrapped his hand around her wrist. Rias felt the flow of magic to her right hand weaken and watched as the orb of magic in her hand flickered and vanished.

"What did you-" she began when Vale held a finger to his lips before she finished, causing her words to die in her throat. Vale removed his hand and opened his other hand causing the same orb to appear and hurled it toward a stack of fliers in the corner of the room, destroying them without a trace.

"Wow, that's nice. Where did you learn something like that?"

"I inherited it from my mother. How did you use it? Is your mother from the Bael Clan?" she asked, more than a little surprised.

"Nope, from what I've deduced my mom was from the Paimon clan, and that's the Paimon clan's ability Drain Zero. I haven't had a lot of chances to test it, most of the strays I find are obviously reincarnated without any special abilities. But it works by absorbing my opponents magic energy and replicating the effect. I can now use that ability whenever I want, albeit at great cost and inefficiency. The more of the technique I absorb or see used the more powerful and easy to use the ability becomes. I've tested it with certain Sacred Gears , I can copy Balance Breakers too but not the original one, I create my own Sub-Species when I copy their ability. But each Sacred Gear is unique so I need multiple exposures to the same Sacred Gear to copy the abilities, but I can work with similar class Gears. Which is problematic with Longinus users, I once had a shot at the Sephiroth Graal user, but that was before I discovered Drain Zero, so I never got to copy that ability. Right now, I only have a Twice Critical absorbed and I only had absorbed it's user's power once so it uses up almost all my magic to duplicate the effect and the time limit is only 3.8 seconds so I don't bother with it."

"Wow that's quite the interesting ability. If you use it right and combine it well with your peerage you'll go far." she replied.

"Well, I hope so. If I hope to restore my family name, I have a long way to go." he replied casually as he walked over and flopped onto a couch.

After that, Rias took Vale on a tour of the schoolhouse and he found himself a room that was both out of the way, while simultaneously fairly close to Rias' room. It was plain, with only a trunk at the end of the bed and a wardrobe against the wall, but I was also free and free was good. He quickly marked the room as his own by engraving his family crest on the door with magic. Shortly after he moved his possessions into the room via a magic circle he engraved on the floor. As all of his possessions had his own personal magic circle on them, he could summon them from anywhere in the world with a magic circle. After he finished moving in, he found his way back to the common room where Rias was going over a few papers that looked like they were important.

"Hey, I realize an important girl like you is pretty busy, but would you wanna do something sometime? I mean, I'd sure love knowing how to use that Power of Destruction of yours a little better, if you don't mind." he said as he took a seat on a chair.

"Well, I am pretty busy. But, I'm sure we could work something out. From what little I saw of your fight, you're quite the warrior. Maybe you could help train some of my servants or help out with certain contracts. This far from the Underworld, it's pretty hard to find a decent combat teacher, so any help you can give us is greatly appreciated." She said as she set the papers down on her desk.

"As long as it's quid pro quo, I'm happy to help."

"Alright, let's hammer out the details later, it's been a long day and I just need to decompress." Rias said as she leaned back and tiredly rubbed her eyes.

"I hear that. I'd offer you a back rub but I think we both know your answer to that."Vale replied from his chair.

"Maybe another time, but I appreciate the thought." Rias replied with a chuckle as she closed her eyes.

Vale and Rias were silent for a while until finally, Vale suddenly asked.

"Wanna make out?" he asked from his chair. Rias' eyes snapped open at his question.

"What?! What could possibly possess you to ask that question?" Rias asked incredulously from her chair.

"Hey look, we're alone. We're both-. Well, I'm reasonably attractive. You, on the other hand, are drop-dead gorgeous. Listen, believe it or not, I know what you're going through. I'm intimately familiar with the feeling of running what is basically a corporation all by your lonesome. I also know that sometimes all you need is a little physical release. I'm not suggesting we have sex or anything, I'm just saying that it **could **help. But hey, I can see your not up for it so I'll drop it. Just thought I'd put it out there. Now, unless you care to change your answer, I'm gonna head to bed." Vale said as he got up and headed back to his room. Rias sat there in shock for a few seconds after Vale exited the room.

"I could do worse." she said to herself.

After that incident, Vale headed to his room. He took a look at himself in the mirror before deciding to use magic to grow his hair down to just below his shoulders. He also decided to change his eye color back to it's original silver. After that, he headed to bed for the night. The next day, he headed to the post office to mail a few letters to old colleagues of his who could be potential candidates for powerful servants. He decided to head back to the schoolhouse a little early that day to prepare for Mil-tan's arrival. On the way back through the park, he saw what appeared to be Issei walking through the park with none other than a nun with green eyes and long, blonde hair. He approached the pair on his skateboard and said,

"Hey Hyoudo-san, who's your friend?" he asked as he came along side him on his skateboard.

"Oh, hey Beleth-san, this is Asia Argento. Asia, this is Vale Beleth." Issei said, gesturing to each of them in turn.

"It's very nice to meet you Beleth-san." Asia said, Vale noticed that she had a significant accent when she spoke.

"It's very nice to meet you Ms. Argento." Vale said, switching to English as he did.

"Ah! You speak English! It's so nice to meet someone who speaks English. Are you a friend of Issei's?"

"I am not." he replied casually, Asia shot him a quizzical look that seemed to desire an explanation, when none arrived she said,

"Well anyways, it was very nice to meet you Beleth-san, you too Ise-kun. But I'm afraid I must be off. I hope to see you both again soon." Asia said in Japanese as she bowed to each of them and scurried off towards the church.

"See you later, Asia." Issei said as he waved after her.

"Hey Vale-san, about last night... Thanks for saving my life. Not only did I get to keep living because of you. But I go to see Akeno-sempai's oppai this morning! Up top!" Issei said delightedly as he held up a hand to high-five Vale.

"Put that away." Vale said with mild disgust. Issei returned his hand to his side before clearing his throat and saying.

"But seriously, thanks man."

"Don't mention it. Ever!" Vale said as he turned and headed back towards Kuoh Academy on his skateboard. He arrived back at the schoolhouse a few minutes later. Mil-tan arrived a few minutes later, practically bursting with excitement.

"What is Mil-tan's first mission, my lord-nyo?" the bodybuilder asked excitedly as he burst into Vale's room, followed closely by Kiba.

"Excuse me Beleth-san, this man is here to see you." Kiba said as he followed Mil-tan inside. Vale dismissed the blonde boy with a shooing motion. Kiba turned and left, closing the door behind him.

"See those fliers?" Vale asked as he pointed to two six feet tall towers of flier resting against the wall. Mil-tan nodded in acknowledgment.

"Pass every single one of those out and come back when you're done and I will begin to instruct you in magic. Your a Devil now which means the contracts those fliers will get us are our primary mode of income and advancement. Now let's get to it Mil-tan, I expect great things from you." Vale said to his newest servant. Mil-tan gave him a failed attempt at a military salute before picking up both stacks, one in each hand and hurried from the room.

Vale spent the rest of the night, reading up on a few of the books Rias had given him earlier that day. He had already decorated his small room with what meager belongings he did have. Later he got up off his bed and stowed the book he was reading inside the small trunk at the foot of his bed that contained most of his possessions minus his 2 weapons, which he had stored in their cases which he had sealed with magic inside his closet. Issei was out on a mission and apparently needed some help so all the other members, including Rias had left to help him. He was about to put on his shoes and go for an evening run when there was a knock on his door. He ran over to his closet and unsealed one of the cases with a hand signal and fished out his sword and crept over to the door he gently nudged it open and peered out when he heard a voice ask,

"Are you just gonna sit there and stare or are you going to invite me in?" the visitor asked. Vale nearly dropped his sword at the sight of the person outside his door.

"Oh my God! Of course Sirzechs-dono, come right in." Vale said as he opened his door to allow the King of the Underworld into his apartment.

"What brings you here?" Vale asked as Sirzechs stepped inside his room.

"I actually need your help with something..." Sirzechs said as he pulled out a manilla folder out of thin air and handed it to Vale. He opened it up and thumbed through the contents before apprehensively asking,

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get this?"

Author's Note: Alrighty, here you go. My ideas for Vale's peerage have changed considerably after reading reviews and mulling over a few ideas Sangai-Havoc ran past me. Currently Vale's planned peerage is as follows,

Mil-tan- Rook

Irina- Knight

Vali- Pawn x8

Tiamat or Naraku (from Inuyasha, currently a maybe)- Queen

Kuroka- Bishop

Kuyou (from Rosario+Vampire)- Rook

Thanatos(Grim Reaper OC)- Knight

Kunou- Bishop,

Though not necessarily in that order. Also, would love to hear any ideas you have for his peerage or familiar, through PM preferably. As always, reviews are appreciated. The eight I received after the last chapter prompted this quick update. Ergo, more reviews means faster update. This is the 19th Angel, signing off...


	3. Chapter 3

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's character's. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty, not too many reviews last chapter. Not gonna lie, that bummed me out. But the story seems popular enough judging by visitors. So, I'll keep writing. Also, good news to any DxD writers out there, I got Sirzechs added to the character list for the series on this site.

Chapter 3- Everybody Talks

Vale flipped through the contents of the file in his hand that he'd just received, courtesy of Sirzechs Lucifer, who sat across the room from him on the only chair in the small, cramped room. It contained an extensive amount of information on the Exiled Exorcist and the Fallen Angels in the town. Apparently the Exorcist was named Freed Sellzen and he was working for no less than 8 Fallen Angels, lead by a Mid-Level Fallen Angel by the name of Raynare. Not only that, but it provided detailed information on every single one of the Fallen Angels working for Raynare. It also mentioned that they were attempting to perform a ceremony to steal a Sacred Gear from it original user in the near future. Vale assumed that it must be for Issei or Kiba, as Rias had stated that both of them possessed Sacred Gears.

"Sir, how on earth did you get this? I've been working on this for weeks and I don't know half of this info. And more importantly, why are you showing it to me?" Vale asked as he closed the folder.

"Well, I assume it goes without saying that I possess more avenues of gathering information than you. But, I gave it to you because the Exorcist killed a client of Hyoudo-san's not one hour ago. Rias-chan and her servants went to go help him as you are no doubt aware. Hyoudo-san was gravely injured during the following skirmish, so you're not likely to see my sister anytime soon tonight. This entire scenario has me thinking, while I'd never say I don't have faith in my sister or her servants to take care of these rogue elements in her territory-" he began when Vale cut him off by saying,

"You want me to make absolutely sure that her and her servants survive the encounter." Vale finished for him, switching to English for convenience.

"I see we are on the same page in this matter. How you handle it is up to you, I just wish to see my sister and her servants unharmed." Sirzechs said diplomatically as he crossed one leg over the other.

"Is that all you came here for? Because you could have just emailed me this info. It's not exactly sensitive data." Vale said as he laid the folder on his nightstand and sat down on his bed across from Sirzechs.

"Well, that is not the only reason I'm here. I'd like to know what your plans for the future are. By that, I mean for the rest of your life. I would be remiss as King of our species if I did not ensure that you are doing what is best for yourself and your future family. Plus, Grayfia had a lot of paperwork for me to do, and this seemed like more fun, so here I am."

"Well, due to all the contracts I have performed I'm pretty well set in the finances department. I know I said it was tight but I just meant most of my assets are not very fluid and easy to move and access. Other than that, I'm not sure what you're asking." Vale replied with a shrug.

"Well for starts, obviously every family has their own territory. If you manage to qualify for King status you'd get your choice of any territory not occupied by a current 72 Pillars family. Tell me, where would you choose as your territory?" Sirzechs said as he leaned on his knee as he leaned forward with interest to hear Vale's reply.

"I'd choose Cocytus." Vale replied with almost no delay.

"Interesting choice. Care to enlighten me as to why?" Sirzechs replied as he brushed some of his crimson hair behind his shoulder..

"Simple, everyone will think twice before ever tangling with the man who lives in Cocytus. Anyone willing to live near the Pale Horse is not to be trifled with." Vale said.

"Indeed, but another question. I know it's cliched but, where do you see yourself in 300 years?"(Devils live for an extremely long time.) Sirzechs asked.

"Hopefully married for 250 years, with a family, and well... I'm not sure the last part is appropriate, considering current company."

"Oh?" Sirzechs replied with a crimson eyebrow raised in interest.

"Well, I'd like to have your job one day, to be honest, sir." Vale replied casually. Sirzechs chuckled in response as he said,

"Well, from one man to another, I'd like to say, you have a genuine chance getting it one day if you work hard."

"You are either insulting me if you're being sarcastic or you are paying me great praise indeed, if you are being genuine." Vale said as he raised a cautious eyebrow.

"I am indeed being genuine. In 5 years, you have brought down 99 Stray Devils on your own with no help at all. Not to mention several dozen Fallen Angels. Your own combat experience and ability is roughly equal to Ajuka's and mine at your age. Plus, after I told Ajuka about your Drain Zero ability, he thinks there is even a possibility you could be a Super Devil like him and I. Now Ajuka is many things, but he is not stupid. If he believes you are a Super Devil, then you most likely are." Sirzechs replied from his spot on the chair.

"Well sir, I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, though I'm not sure I share it." Vale replied modestly. It didn't surprise him that Rias had told him of his ability.

"Though you mentioned you'd like to be married and start a family. Forgive me for prying, but do you have any ideas as to who you'd like to start this family with? If you plan to keep your family's bloodline pure, your options for a mate are fairly limited."

"Are you trying to set me up with someone,sir?" Vale replied inquisitively.

"No. I'm simply trying to ascertain your reasoning behind _propositioning my sister yesterday." _ Sirzechs said in a deadpan tone so scary that it damn near froze the blood in Vale's veins. Vale felt the color drain from his face.

"Umm, excuse me." Vale said, trying his best to hide the crushing fear he felt in his stomach.

"Were you just going to use her for her impressive body then discard her like a common streetwalker?" Sirzechs replied in the same terrifying tone.

"Absolutely not! If I were going to indulge in any sort of activity like that with any woman, especially your sister, I would be nothing but respectful and gentle. I would definitely call her the next day! Sir, what I mean to say is, I would never engage in any sort of sordid activity with her that might hurt her. Rias is a wonderful person, sir. She is smart, kind, and more caring than anyone I've ever met And I think any man in the world would be lucky to earn her heart and even luckier to have the opportunity to express their feelings for her in a physical manner." Vale explained hurriedly in an attempt to prevent the King of the Underworld from killing him where he sat. Sirzechs was quiet for a long while before finally, he slowly stood from his chair and extended a hand towards Vale. Vale apprehensively reached out and shook Sirzechs' hand.

"That was an excellent answer Vale(still talking in English). I see now I do not have to worry about any harm coming to Rias from you. From now on, I'd like you to consider me your friend. At the very least, you will always have an ally in me from now on. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off before Grayfia returns to retrieve me." Sirzechs said as he opened and exited through a magical circle.

"Huh... So that's what absolute terror feels like. Let's not do that again" Vale said as he headed towards his door and opened it to see Koneko standing just outside his door. She said nothing as he opened the door, she simply stared at him until finally Vale said,

"Can I help you Toujo-san?" he asked making sure to switch back to Japanese.

"Buchou sent me to tell you she won't be home tonight. The pervert got himself injured and she took him home to heal him. Guess it sucks to be you, huh?" She replied in an apathetic tone.

"How do you mean? I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, I've been doing it for half a decade now. I'm almost positive I can take care of myself better than Rias-hime (Rias is technically Underworld royalty) or any of her servants, yourself included."

"I'm talking about your pretty obvious crush on Buchou. I had my suspicions yesterday, but your impressive little description of her to Sirzechs-sama just now confirmed it. Looks like you'll be spending the night by yourself tonight, something your no doubt _very_familiar with." Koneko replied with what Vale could swear was a hint of smugness in her voice.

"Are you implying that I'm very familiar with self-romance, Toujo-san?" Vale replied as he narrowed his eyes at the Youkai.

"That's exactly what I'm implying." Koneko replied with a small grin.

"You know **Koneko, **you think that because you're a cute little loli neko-girl that no one will ever smack you for being such a bitch. Let me tell you something, **you are mistaken.**" Vale growled as leaned down close to Koneko's face and concentrated his magic inside his eyes causing his sclerae to turn black. Without warning, Vale leaned back just in time to avoid Koneko's uppercut that she had launched towards his chin. Her next shot was aimed squarely at his groin and he just barely managed to get his hand out of his pocket in time to grab Koneko by her wrist, and in one smooth motion ducked under her next shot and wrapped her arm behind her back before pinning her against the wall and pressing the forearm of his unoccupied arm into her neck effectively restraining her and prevent her from using her enhanced strength to break free.

"The reason you can't break my hold is simple. You're too light, Mil-tan doesn't have that problem, no one can hold that dude."

"Buchou's gonna be so pissed at you after I tell her-" Koneko began when Vale cut her off saying,

"Tell her what? That I defended myself in a non-lethal manner from your unprovoked attack? Koneko, you started this, you're just too weak to finish it. I hardly think Rias will side with you on this matter, you just attacked what is basically a foreign diplomat, Koneko. Rias could get in a lot of trouble for you attacking me outside of a Rating Game, and neither you nor I wants to see that happen, correct?" Vale asked. Koneko said nothing for a long while before nodding slightly in agreement. Vale released her and she stomped away, leaving clear shoe prints in the tile floor.

After that Vale went back to his room and pulled up the Fallen Angels church on Google Earth© and started to plan a stratagem for his impending mission to the church. He had formulated at least 8 plans of attack, 6 of which included Mil-tan but he had no actual data of Mil-tan in battle so he couldn't be sure of how well they would work and he liked to have at least 14 different attack and escape plans before assaulting a Fallen Angel stronghold. He was nothing, if not prepared when he did his job.

It was nearing three in the morning when Mil-tan arrived back in his room.

"I have handed out all of the fliers, sir. What is my next mission-nyo?" Mil-tan asked as he entered through the door. Vale looked up from his computer to get a look at the bodybuilder. His cosplay was torn and ripped in several places. Sweat streamed down his face and body like so much condensation on a cold soda can on a hot summer day. His chest was heaving from exhaustion. Vale briefly considered teaching him some magic that night, but decided against it. He got up and walked over to the bodybuilder and placed a hand on his shoulder before saying,

"Your next job is to go home and get some rest. Tomorrow if we're not too busy, I will begin to teach you magic. Also quick lesson, from now on avoid saying God, don't try reading the Bible unless your ready for a bitching headache. Stay away from crosses and holy water. Also churches are a no-no Angels aren't too fond of us, Fallen or otherwise. Approaching near them is just inviting light spears through the face." Vale explained, ignoring the pain in his head as he said God.

He was used to it, he frequently read the Bible as a way to research the Great War, it wasn't the pain that bothered him so much as the nosebleeds he eventually got from it. He'd deduced long ago that God, along with Lucifer, Leviathan, Beelzebub, and Asmodeus was most likely dead. Which meant that whoever was pretending to be Him now could kiss his toned, white ass. He didn't like the way the first one ran things, and who ever did it now was doing a pretty half-assed job of it. After that, Mil-tan headed home to get some rest. Vale was about to head to bed and was in the middle of undressing when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in." Vale said as he pulled his shirt over his head and threw it over into the corner of the room as he began to search for a pair of pajama bottoms when he heard a voice behind him say,

"Ara ara ufufufu, am I interrupting something?" the voice asked. Vale turned to see the girl Rias had referred to as Akeno the night they had met. She was very pretty, she had a buxom figure with a violet eyes and long black hair held by an orange ribbon up in a ponytail with two antennae-like strand sloping backwards. She wore the same uniform Rias and Koneko did, complete with shoulder cape and knee-high socks. Vale also couldn't help but notice that her breasts were slightly larger than Rias'.

"No, it's cool. You can stare as much as you want, I've got nothing to hide. So care to tell me why one of Kuoh Academy's Two Great Ladies is visiting me in the dead of night." he said as he stripped off his pants and donned a pair of black and red striped pajama bottoms.

"Buchou sent me to make sure you were alright. Her and Ise-kun are currently indisposed. She would've sent Koneko back but she said she had places to be. Do you need assistance with anything?"

"Just one thing, are you and Issei dating or at least shacking up?" he asked as he picked up and sheathed his sword and placed it once more in his closet.

"That is an odd question. But, if you must know, no we are not. Why do you ask?" she said as she folded her hands over her lap.

"No reason, I just think you two make a very cute couple. So unless you care to join me in my bed for one activity or another, you may leave. But if you do join me, be warned, I bite." he said with a wink.

"Ufufu, well first off, I appreciate the comment about me and Ise-kun. Also, I'd like to ask you not to tease me with ideas like that or I just may just join you." she replied.

Akeno left soon after confirming Vale was alright to spend the rest of the night at the schoolhouse alone. Vale went to sleep after checking his email and seeing that two of his former colleagues had replied to his letters.

Vale woke the next afternoon and began to go over a few of the books that Rias had lent him before taking a small break and heading to the common room to greet the club members as they got out of school. Rias and Akeno were the first to arrive, followed closely by Kiba.

"Hey guys, how goes it?" Vale asked from his seat on the chair.

"I'm well, thank you for asking." Kiba replied with a small bow.

"I'm well also." Akeno chimed in with another small bow of her own.

"I'm good, you?" Rias replied.

"I'm fine, been studying all day so I decided to take a break. So I've noticed you have a chessboard, do you play?" Vale asked as he pointed to the aforementioned chessboard.

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?" Rias replied as she took a seat at her desk.

"I was just hoping, maybe you and I could play sometime." he replied.

"I'd like that." she replied. Vale opened his mouth to respond when Issei burst through the schoolhouse door,

"Buchou, the Fallen Angels have taken Asia! We have to go save her! Please, we don't have much time." Issei said desperately. Rias nodded and stood up as she said.

"I apologize Vale-san, our game must wait until another time. Kiba, go get Koneko and we'll rendezvous at the park." Rias said as she, Issei, and Akeno stepped onto the magical circle and disappeared. As soon as they vanished, Vale whipped out his phone and dialed Mil-tan's number.

"Yes, my lord-nyo?" the voice on the other said as it picked up.

"Schoolhouse, now. Dress for combat." Vale said flatly before he hung up before sprinting back to his room and fishing his sword out of the closet. He thought about bringing his other weapon, but decide to simply unseal the box so he could summon it if he needed it. Mil-tan arrived a few minutes later. He had thankfully forgone his cosplay and dressed in a tight black tee shirt and black track pants.

"Alright, let's go bust some heads." Vale said with a grin as he handed Mil-tan a pair of fingerless gloves.

_12 minutes later..._

Vale stood outside the barrier the Fallen Angels had erected around the church as he watched Mil-tan pound futilely against the barrier.

"Mil-tan, stop. The barrier is too strong for you. I guess I'll have to do it." Vale said with a sigh, he hated using such flashy spells during operations like this, but on the upside, the Fallen Angels were probably going to be too busy with Rias and the others to question where the attack came from. He held up a hand and a magic circle appeared in the air and split in to two, causing a massive black pillar to form between them. They extended a total of approximately 15 meters before disappearing.

"You're probably gonna wanna move Mil-tan." Vale said as Mil-tan scrambled out of the way. Once he was sure Mil-tan was clear, he hurled his hand forward and watched as the massive pillar crashed into the barrier and stopped temporarily as it encountered the barrier before continuing through the barrier and crashing through the side of the church with a thunderous crash. He manifested the proper spell in his hand and absorbed it into his body, causing his skin turned the color of stone and cracked along the surface and his hair turned red at the edges. He didn't worry about the cracks, they were only cosmetic.

"Alrighty Mil-tan, let's go to work." Vale said with a grin as he unsheathed his sword and started towards the new entrance he had created. Mil-tan nodded and hurried after him into the church...

Author's Note: Here it is guys, little note for you, Vale's Abyss Physique forms are demonic power, not magic. Small, yet important difference for hardcore fans. As always, I urge you to review if you have time. For anyone who's wondering, I hope for Vale to end up with [REDACTED], not [REDACTED] as you may believe. Also for any who are wondering Issei's harem will contain(at least temprorarily): Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Xenovia, Irina, Asia, and Rossweisse. So, as always, the peerage list as of now is:

Mil-tan-Rook

Irina(I have a plan, don't worry)- Knight

Vali- Pawn x8

Raiden (Raijuu OC)- Bishop

Kuyo- Rook

Tiamat- Queen

Kuroka- Bishop

Tenebrous (new name for Grim Reaper OC)- Knight

Also, big thanks to Sangai-Havoc(check out his story Atlantis Dragons, it's a decent read), and DragonxDelinquent. Also, thank you to Deadly Shinigami, StarLight43(I'd really appreciate it if you would make a profile so we can PM each other, but it's your decision obviously), and Blckwlf4 for reviewing chapter 2 it really gave me the push I needed to keep writing. This is the 19th Angel, signing off...


	4. Chapter 4

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's character's. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, nine reviews last chapter, that was quite the pleasant surprise and I wanna thank all the people who took the time out of their busy days to lemme know what they think of my story. Also, I appreciate all the creative feedback, I'll do my best to take it to heart.

Chapter 4- Battle At The Church

Vale walked through the newly made hole in the church's wall. He turned to look at the gargantuan obsidian column that had come to rest on top of the splintered remains of what he assumed were pews before glancing at back at the hole he and Mil-tan had entered through before saying,

"You know what? All things considered, I think it looks better." he said as he turned to examine his surroundings.

Up against the far wall sat a large organ in front of a stained glass window depicting the crucifixion of Jesus with a sinister green glow wafting up from the basement below behind a typical, plain looking altar. Though Vale noticed that any other religious symbols had been stripped from the walls. He heard the sound of fluttering wings as he saw six Fallen Angels fly up from the basement. He recognized 3 as Dohnaseek, Mittelt, and Kalawarmer from his own research.

"YOU! What are you doing here?" Dohnaseek shrieked angrily as he pointed accusingly at Vale .

"Mil-tan get ready, things are about to get hairy. I've got the dude in the hat, the blonde, and the one with the blue hair." Vale said as he grasped the hilt of his sword in both hands and readied himself as he saw a brilliant blue spear materialize in Dohnassek's remaining hand. Mil-tan nodded and took a fighting stance. Vale was proud to see Dohnaseek's right arm continued to just above where his elbow should be before ending in a white bandage wrapped around the stump. Without warning, Vale leaped towards Dohnaseek, intending to finish what he'd started. But before he could, the other two each hurled a spear at him. He quickly brought his sword up across his body and through the shaft of the first one, the evil power of the Juuchi Yosamu shattering it like sugar glass. He tried to parry the second, but was too slow due to the increased weight this form caused to successfully parry the second one he managed to knock it partly away, causing it to veer slightly off it's original course and carve a nasty cut along his left side just below his ribcage. He grunted in pain as he neared Dohnaseek who dodged out of his way, but not before Vale managed to carve a ragged gash across his left collarbone.

He brought his feet up before colliding solidly with the wall, the force of his impact causing a spiderweb of cracks to spread out from his point of impact before he pushed off just in time to avoid being crushed underneath a pew that Mil-tan had thrown at one of the other Fallen Angels. He landed with a loud _CRACK _on top of the pillar he had used to pierce the barrier. After which her ducked just in time to dodge a pew that Mil-tan had thrown that continued on before hitting a Fallen Angel and shattering the stained glass window with a thunderous crash. He spared a quick glance at his arm anad was glad to see that his stony skin had turned what would've been a small graze into essentially a large papercut, but he knew the size was irrelevant, the light was already in his bloodstream, poisoning him slowly.

"Nice one, Mil-tan!" he said as he turned to face Dohnaseek, Mittelt, and Kalawarmer. He saw to his satisfaction that Dohnaseek was looking none too fresh. He had turned a pale, sickly color and was shivering uncontrollably.

"What's wrong Dohnaseek? You're looking a little pale there, didn't I mention that this blade is poisonous in this form? Sorry, must have slipped my mind. Well good news for you, I have a cure for the symptoms." Vale said with a fiendish grin as he watched Dohnaseek struggle to stay aloft.

"I'd rather die than accept help from a Devil." Dohnaseek spat at him angrily. Vale gave a small smile as he slowly extended a hand and said.

"What a coincidence, death is the cure. Expunge and Concentrate!" he exclaimed as his body returned to normal and black flames oozed from his flesh and flowed up his back and down his arms in a liquid-like manner before concentrating in front of his outstretched hand into a sphere of black fire.

"Discharge!" he exclaimed loudly as an enormous, rotating column of black fire surrounded by an outer layer of black fire rotating in the opposite direction exploded from the black sphere in his hand as Dohnaseek fell to the ground in a heap of feathers and clothing, causing only Mittelt and Kalawarmer to be caught in the blast before being utterly disintegrated by the spell as it punched an enormous hole in the corner of the church. There was a thunderous crack of masonry breaking as the conflagration burst through the wall. Cracks spider-webbed out from the corner of the ceiling as the loss of the wall caused huge fragments of stone to rain down on to the altar below, utterly pulverizing it into dust. Another hunk of masonry fell next to it, crushing him beneath it.

Vale felt a significant drop in his strength as he discharged the spell. It was no more than was to be expected from a spell of that magnitude. He turned just in time to see Mil-tan leap into the air and grab the Fallen Angel he'd engaged by the shoulders and flip her over and pile-drive her into the ground with so much force that the ground around the area cracked in a three meter radius around the point of impact. Vale examined the area and noticed that the last Fallen Angel had disappeared.

"Alrighty Mil-tan, nice work. Looks like your gonna do just fine. Now, let's get to-" he began to say when Mil-tan leaped forwards tackled him around the middle to the ground as a small, bright line flashed across Vale's

"Vale, watch out-nyo!" Mil-tan said as they hit the ground, knocking the wind from Vale's lungs.

"Well, well, well, look at this, two shitty Devils in my church. Looks like maybe God is real and has smiled on Freed today." said a voice from behind the altar. The source of the voice was a young man with short, white hair and red eyes, holding what appeared to be a light sword and a small pistol.

"Mil-tan go! This guy's too dangerous. Go outside and stop any other Fallen Angels that try to attack Rias and her servants, but remain unseen. I'll handle him." Vale said as he scrambled to take cover behind the pillar. Mil-tan nodded and scurried from the church. He scrambled up the pillar and leaped down toward Freed, managing to knock the pistol from his hands and kick it away. He had to duck soon afterward though, to avoid the slash that Freed had aimed at his head before countering with a stab towards Freed's ribs. Freed danced out of the way of his stab and managed to nick Vale along his ribs, the sword burning a long line across them.

_This is bad, _Vale thought as he felt the light coursing through his system, poisoning him little by little. He had to get back to his room in under 2 hours or he'd need magical assistance to cure himself.

"Well Mr. Sellzen, as fun as this is, I have no interest in indulging you any longer. One way or another this fight is going to end soon. My only advice is this: try to keep up." he said as he extended a hand as what appeared to be a small but violent spherical thunderstorm appeared in his hand.

"Does this shitty Devil have a trick up his sleeve for me? Don't you know tricks won't save you? I'm going to cut you up until there's nothing left." Freed howled with mad laughter.

"We'll see. Compress, Bind, and Incorporate!" He said as the sphere disappeared into the magic circle on his hand and markings resembling lightning bolts spread across his body.

"Activate!" Vale proclaimed as his hair turned a luminescent white-purple color, what appeared to be an aura composed of electricity surrounded him, and the markings began to glow a brilliant purple color before he launched himself toward Freed at a speed that made Kiba's Knight speed look like the speed of a college student on a lazy Sunday. Freed barely managed to get his sword up to block Vale's first attack. Before Freed could block or parry Vale's next strike Vale had shoved the Juuchi Yosamu through Freed's left kneecap with a nasty grinding nose that made Vale want to vomit. Freed screamed in agony as Vale twisted his sword as he pulled it out, a sound more animal than human. Freed fell to the ground in a trembling heap before saying,

"How could a shitty Devil injure me?! I'm going to make you pay for injuring me!" Freed screamed as he stood up and lunged at Vale, slashing like a savage. Vale managed to parry the first attack before Freed sliced down the side of Vale's calf, slicing through his jeans and causing Vale to lose his balance and tumble to the ground, landing on his back. Freed took advantage of his momentary vulnerability and lunged at Vale as he tried to stab him through the throat, Vale dropped his sword and grabbed the priest's wrist and tried to push him off. To no avail it seemed, as Freed's light sword inched closer and closer to his throat. Freed had too much leverage and he was too weak from the light sword being so close to him, not to mention being the effect being inside a church was having on him, his injuries, his spell, and his use of the Abyss Physique; if he'd been in the first form he'd used he could have thrown Freed the length of the church one-handed, but this form didn't come with super-strength. But it did have one special ability that could help. He focused his magic into his palms which sent an electric current into Freed's arms. This momentarily distracted Freed long enough for Vale to push the light sword away from his neck.

Things became significantly more complicated when Vale heard two voices that sounded like Kiba and Issei entering the church but he couldn't be sure as the enormous column blocked his view of the door. Vale didn't want to be seen by either of them, that would raise too many questions that he didn't want to answer. He glanced around and saw only one way out of this. It was low, it was dirty, it was downright despicable, but it was the only way. Vale looked back up at the mad priest and brought his uninjured leg up between Freed's legs with all his might, impacting Freed squarely in the testicles. The color drained from his face and he dropped the light sword, it hit the ground with a clatter and turned off as he fell to the ground clutching his groin.

"Well then, my work here is done." Vale said as he grabbed his sword and leaped through the second hole in the church wall before grabbing the edge of the opening and pulling himself onto the roof. He released the magic powering his current form and used it to summon Mil-tan back to him inside a magic circle he inscribed on the roof with magic. Mil-tan stepped out of the black magical circle, he turned to see Vale lying on the roof clutching his side.

"Vale, what happened-nyo?" Mil-tan said urgently as he knelt next to his King.

"Freed was better than expected. Long story short, I need your shirt and pants." Vale said as he pulled his hand away to examine the cut on his side.

_15 minutes later..._

Vale grunted as he felt Mil-tan finish tying the last of the impromptu bandages they'd fashioned out of Mil-tan's shirt an the lower half of Mil-tan's pants.

"Thank you, you can head back. I wanna stay and see how Issei handles Raynare then I'm gonna head back." Vale had been listening in to Issei's fight with Raynare while Mil-tan had bandaged him up., it sounded like he was losing but Vale had a nagging feeling he could win if he played his cards right, he had promoted to Rook at the beginning of the fight and activated his Sacred Gear, all the pieces were there, he just had to use them right. Mil-tan nodded and leaped off the building, landing uninjured thanks to his Rook piece. Vale spread his wings and leaped of the air and used his wings to hover, with no small effort, just outside of the hole created by his second spell. Issei lunged at the Fallen Angel only for her to dance out of the way and laugh cruelly at him. From the look on his face Vale guessed that Issei was PISSED about something. Vale was even more impressed that he was standing, considering the two holes in his thighs. Vale noted that apparently, his Sacred Gear took the form of a gauntlet on his left hand.

"YOU KILLED ASIA! SHE DID NOTHING WRONG! ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO MAKE FRIENDS AND YOU KILLED HER FOR HER SACRED GEAR! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS! I'm going to use the power of this Sacred Gear to wipe you off the face of the Earth!" Issei screamed at Raynare.

"BOOST!" a voice called from the strange red gauntlet on Issei's hand. This caused Vale to raise an eyebrow, he had heard the gauntlet call that once before. If it was a Twice Critical like Raynare said, it would only double his power and it clearly read III on the jewel.

"She's better off now, she was called a witch everywhere and shunned by everyone! I did her a kindness by killing her. Plus, her death served to help me advance. You seem to be the only one complaining." Raynare sneered at him. Issei lunged forward only for Raynare to fly above his head and alight on the ground behind him.

"Stop running and FIGHT ME!" Issei screamed at Raynare as he charged towards her.

"EXPLOSION!" the Sacred Gear said as it extended to cover his fingers in talon-like extensions and extended farther up his forearm. A red light spear appeared in Raynare's hand as she hurled it towards Issei. Issei deflected it with the gauntlet and continued to rush towards Raynare, who tried to take to the sky once more. But before she had left the ground, Issei grabbed her by the wrist and slammed his now-luminescent right fist into her stomach, sending her flying through the wall with a crash.

Without warning, Vale suddenly felt weak and felt his wings fail as he plummeted to the ground. He managed to control his descent and landed a few feet away from Raynare, who was groaning in pain. With what felt like a titanic effort, he pushed himself up off the ground and managed to stand up and stumble over until he stood over Raynare.

"You honestly don't feel bad about what you did do you?" he huffed, he was exhausted. He needed to get home and treat himself. But he knew that, before that, he needed to do this.

"Uhhhh. Who are you?" Raynare groaned through half-closed eyes.

"You know, I only met Asia Argento once. But, I could tell, she was one of the nicest people I ever met in less than ten seconds after meeting her. She definitely didn't deserve to die. Not at her age, not at the hands of trash like you. You say she was a witch, but if anyone was a witch here, it is you. Now, even though this is gonna hurt like a bitch and it's technically a mistranslation, lemme quote you some scripture to you. Exodus 22:18..." Vale said as he left the rest of it unsaid, letting Raynare deduce exactly what he meant as a small sphere of what appeared to be light, appeared above his finger. He knew it was not light, but something far more sinister, it was one of the most powerful spells he knew and if anyone deserved it, it was the Fallen Angel in front of him.

"No, you can't! Please, I'll do anything, just don't use that spell on me." Raynare pleaded fearfully as she recognized the only spell that looked like light that a Devil could use.

"Here's the problem, I don't want anything from you. And fortunately for me, this spell doesn't affect Sacred Gear. Now back to that scripture." he said as he pointed two fingers down at Raynare.

"NO, PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!" Raynare shrieked desperately.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Vale said cryptically as the beam of light lanced from his fingers towards Raynare...

_Back at the church, with Koneko Toujou, 15 minutes later..._

"Koneko, go find that Fallen Angel, while I tend to Issei and Asia." Rias said as she knelt next to her exhausted Pawn, who had passed out already. She nodded and headed over to the hole in the wall, following the trail of debris until she found herself in front of a pile of rubble. But the Fallen Angel was nowhere to be found, she turned to continue searching when a glimmer caught her eye. She turned to look at the source of the source of the glimmer. It was a statue of an Angel, but for some reason it had a silver ring with a blue-green gem on each hand. It looked a lot like the Sacred Gear Issei had described that belonged to the nun. Then it hit her, it wasn't a statue. It was Raynare. Someone had petrified her, turned her completely to stone.

"Buchou, come here. You're gonna wanna see this." there was a flurry of activity as Akeno and Kiba caught up with her. Kiba's uniform was torn and bloodied, while Akeno's priestess outfit was covered in dirt and grime.

"Oh my!" Akeno exclaimed as she placed a hand over her mouth as she realized what she was looking at.

"Who could've done such a thing?" Kiba asked, sounding utterly stupefied.

"Doesn't matter, she deserved it." said a voice behind them Koneko turned to see Issei leaning for fupport on Rias's shoulder as the gazed at the petrified Fallen Angel.

_Back in Vale's room..._

Vale appeared inside the magic circle on the floor of his room and managed to remain standing for only a few seconds before he hit the ground of his room with a thud. He was finding it very hard to move. He was tired beyond all belief, not to mention suffering from light poisoning. He managed to unsteadily push himself onto his hands and knees and dragged himself over to the trunk at the end of his bed. He pushed it open and leaned on the edge of the trunk and began to frantically dig through the contents of the trunk with shaking hands. He tossed out his files in handfuls, he wasn't concerned about organization right now. He kept digging through the many folders until he found what he was looking for. It was a small, black box with a red cross on it, he made a mental note to keep it in a more accessible place for future access.

He reached down into the trunk and pulled out the box and tried to open the catch with his trembling hands. His fingers were shaking so bad that as soon as he got the catch open the box fell from his hand onto the ground with a loud clattering sound, causing the contents to spill onto the ground several of the small, clear vials to roll out of his reach. Thankfully, as luck would have it, one had stopped rolling as it hit his leg. He grabbed the small container from the ground and pulled out the strange looking device that resembled an oversized epipen© with a slot in the middle to insert vials into; it was a gift he'd received from a nice small-town Chinese pharmacist in return for "convincing" the local branch of the triad to stop shaking him down for collection money. He loaded the vial into the slot before saying,

"Oh, this is gonna suck." he groaned as he uncapped the end and shoved the eight centimeter needle into his left thigh and depressed the button on top of the device. He felt a stinging pain in his thigh as it emptied the contents of the vial, his own special mix of Phoenix Tears and adrenaline, into his femoral artery. But he knew the worst was yet to come as he stood and sprinted to the nearest bathroom as he prepared for his body to empty the light and holy energy from his system, by any means necessary...

_47 minutes later..._

Rias arrived back at the schoolhouse, along with Akeno, who was carrying an unconscious Asia in her arms. Her newest servant had passed out shortly after healing Issei with her Sacred Gear, Rias had offered to heal him later but she had insisted on doing it herself. Akeno went off to find Asia a place to sleep for the night before she moved into Issei's house the next day. That particular news had delighted Issei and Asia both to no end. Koneko and Kiba had gone home for the night after the battle, they had only sustained minor injuries during the fight. She had decided that Issei would stay the night with her, she knew that he'd been healed, but she wanted to be sure that he was okay.

"Issei why don't you go meet me in my room? I'll be right in, I just wanna say goodnight to Vale." she said. Issei nodded and scurried off to her room. She was on her way to Vale's room when she heard what sounded like someone throwing up. It sounded like it was coming from the bathroom across the hall, she turned an walked over to the door that led to aforementioned bathroom. She knocked on it twice before asking,

"Vale-san are you okay? You're not sick at all, are you?" Rias asked with concern.

"Nope, not at all. Just some bad sushi deciding it wants to kick my ass." Vale replied before making a wretching sound as he vomited once more. Rias slowly opened the door to see Vale with his head in the toilet.

"Why hello, Rias-hime? How was your night? I trust everything went alright with your attempt to rescue Asia." Vale said as he turned to look at Rias, who noted that he was particularly pale. He saw with some satisfaction the she blushed slightly at his choice of honorific for her.

"Yes, thank you. This may sound odd but; were you at the church at all tonight? There was a lot of unexplained damage to the church when Akeno and I arrived to help Issei." she asked hesitantly once she regained her composure.

"Do I look like I could leave the room in my condition? Much less do battle?" he asked, sounding slightly winded as he did.

"I suppose not, sorry to bother you. I just wanted to say goodnight before I went to bed." She said as she turned to leave.

"Goodnight Rias-hime and sweet dreams. Ooh! But before I forget, may I speak to Hyoudou-san real quick?" he asked from the floor.

"Of course, I'll send him over. I hope you feel better soon." she said as she turned and left the room.

"Me too." he called back to her.

Issei arrived a few minutes later to see Vale brushing his teeth in an attempt to get the taste of bile out of his mouth.

"Buchou said you wanted to see me Beleth-san, is everything alright?" Issei asked as he entered the bathroom.

"Yes, it is. And please, call me Vale. A little birdie told me you kicked some Fallen Angel ass tonight. Is that true?" Vale asked as he spit out the toothpaste and wiped his mouth.

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. I got hurt pretty bad. I probably would've died if Buchou hadn't reincarnated Asia-chan, who healed me right after. Though someone petrified Raynare afterward, that was weird." Issei said with a shrug.

"Well, all things considered that's pretty impressive, especially considering how new you are to this. I'm actually impressed that you managed to beat Raynare, considering she was pretty strong from what I've heard. Impessive enough to earn my, albeit grudging, respect." Vale said as he extended a hand towards Issei.

"What's this about? I always got the impression you didn't like me." Issei said as he stared at Vale's outstretched hand.

"I don't like you, present tense. I find you perverted and more than willing to objectify women as sex objects. But if you can summon up the strength to beat a Mid-level Fallen Angel to save a girl like Asia, you can't be that bad. So from now on, consider us allies." Vale said plainly. Issei stared at his hand before slowly reaching out and shaking it with his own.

"Hey, Vale-san?"

"Yes, Issei-san?"

"Why's your vomit glowing?" Issei asked curiously.

"Enough questions, off to bed with you!" Vale exclaimed as he turned Issei around and pushed him out of the room...

Author's Note: Well, there you have it. Peerage list is currently unchanged from last chapter. Though I'd like to hear your thoughts on Vale getting Xenovia as his first Knight, since you all seem so opposed to Irina as his Knight. I'm trying to preserve Rias' canon peerage, but I'm willing to tweak it. I'm also considering Valerie Tepes as his Bishop. Considering that she has the Sephiroth Graal, she'd make a terrific healer. Anyways, I know it's your weekends and you've probably got plans, but as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. This is the 19th Angel, signing off...


	5. Chapter 5

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty, 26 reviews in four chapters. I just wanna say thanks to Blckwlf4, DragonXDelinquent, cloudfarron, sl0bad, and all my other reviewers for your guys' reviews. Also continued thanks to Sangai-Havoc for his help on this. Guys, I realize that I'm making a few mistakes here and there, some big, some little, I'm just asking you to be patient with me. When I started writing my Sekirei story I already knew the canon forwards, backwards, and sideways; I'm still pretty new to DxD, so I know I'm gonna make mistakes but I'm trying my best. I also realized I previously made an uh-oh about Vale. Neither the Paimon or Beleth clans are extinct in canon, they simply are not part of the 72 Pillars anymore. So it should be noted that he is currently the only pure-blooded heir alive, not the only one period. Also, recently started pondering a Vale/Akeno pairing or even Vale/Tsubaki, instead of the Vale/[REDACTED] pairing that I was originally going to go for. What do you guys think?(Just FYI if you wanna know who I wanna pair him with just PM me and ask. I'd like to ask that you don't ask through review.)

Chapter 5- A Small Break From The Action

"Absolutely not! I've no desire to be caged up for 8 hours a day in some boring room, surrounded by people I neither know nor desire to know!" Vale exclaimed as he threw his hands up in frustration. He was sitting in his usual chair in the clubroom of the old schoolhouse, with his feet propped up on the table in front of him. It'd only been a day since the fight at the church and he was still sore from the ordeal the Phoenix Tears and adrenaline had put his body through, he'd made a mental note to increase his holy resistance at the earliest possible opportunity. Mil-tan was out on contracts. Him and Rias had met in the clubroom to begin the first of his High-Class etiquette lessons.

"Come on Vale-kun, it's not so bad. I've been doing it for the last 3 years and I don't mind." Rias replied from her seat at her desk.

"Rias-hime, in the last 3 years I have lived in over 148 countries, killed 99 Stray Devils, 23 Youkai, and 63 Fallen Angels. I'm not meant to sit at a desk all day, I'm meant to move, to hunt, to do stuff!" he exclaimed.

"Well, I don't have time to instruct Asia-chan and Issei-kun, teach you, AND run my territory. Besides I'm sure their are some gaps in your knowledge that can you could stand to fill, besides we'd be in the same classes, and it'd be nice to see you more often." Rias explained with a smile. Vale was caught off guard by her comment about seeing him more often. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, using his elbow to hide the blush that had risen to his cheeks from Rias' view.

"Alright, since you seem so insistent, I will reluctantly... enroll in school with you and your servants." he grumbled quietly.

"Alrighty then, I'll have my father draw up the proper forms and you can start next week. Now, back to our lesson..." she said as she opened the book laying on the desk before her once more.

"Do we haaaave to? This is so boring, can't we do something else?" Vale groaned as he flopped over one of the armrests of the chair. He knew he was acting like a petulant child, that was the point. They had been studying for three hours and he was tired and wanted to stretch his legs.

"Would you rather make out, as you so boldly suggested the first night we met?" she asked with a small chuckle.

"Oh my God, yes! So much yes!" he exclaimed as he sat up once more, ignoring the pain in his head as he said God.

"Geez, settle down. I was just kidding." she replied.(AN: Sorry Vale, not this chapter buddy.)

"Don't tease me like that. That's just mean." he replied with a disappointed frown.

"I'll keep that in mind for the future. But you're right it is getting late, let's call it a night. You made a fair amount of progress anyways." she said as she closed the book once again.

"So how are Asia and Issei reacting to their new living situation?"

"They both seem delighted to be living together, I just can't believe how easy it was to convince them to let Asia, a girl they never met, live with them and Issei." Rias replied tiredly as she stretched back in her chair.

"I know right. It's almost like some outside force just rewrote their minds to allow her to live with them instead of having to come up with a more plausible answer. I mean, I know I'd never let a girl like Asia, a **former nun** move in with my super pervy son. Or maybe you're just super persuasive. I neither know nor care enough about the answer to find out." he said with a noncommittal shrug.

"Well I don't know about you but I'm going to head to bed. I've had a pretty stressful week and I wanna get some rest." She said slowly as she stood up and moved towards the door that led to her room.

"Well, if you want a back rub, you know where to find me. Also, my offer to make out still stands." he replied from his seat on the couch as he focused his demonic power through his body, causing the tattoo like markings his Abyss Physique caused to manifest up and down his arms and legs and across his chest. He examined the tattoos knowing that they changed as his body absorbed more traits or powers he gained from Drain Zero. He saw with some satisfaction that the ends of the tattoos on the back of his hands had changed to a marking similar to the Bael clan insignia had appeared on his fist, signifying his acquisition of the Power of Destruction, though it hadn't changed the marking farther up his arm showing that he had mastered it. After achieving full mastery of a skill or form the entire web would change subtly to reflect his mastery of it.

"I'll keep that in mind, but it think I'm just gonna hit the hay, besides it's not like you can help with my problem at all." she said absentmindedly, forgetting for a minute that Vale didn't know about her pending engagement with Raiser.

"Whoa, what problem? Everything alright?" Vale asked as he released the demonic power, causing the marks to vanish from his skin.

"Sorry, it's nothing. I'm just struggling with an essay for school." Rias lied in response. Vale was silent for a few moments as he examined her face, she tried to keep her face impassive as she tried to hide her deception, until finally.

"Well, I can't help you with that." he replied finally as he picked up his book and decided to head to bed. Rias was about to open the door to her room when she heard Vale call out,

"While I will respect your privacy for now Rias-hime. I'd like to ask that, in the future, you refrain from lying to me. You're not very good at it." as he headed back to his room.

Vale woke at two-thirty in the afternoon the following day, he spent an hour working out and trying to increase his holy power resistance. After which, he went to the clubroom to shower using the tub Rias had, for some odd reason, installed in the clubroom. After taking a nice, long, hot shower he stepped out of the shower to retrieve his towel from Rias' desk. Though what he didn't know was that during his shower he had failed to hear the clubroom door open and someone walk in. Oblivious of this fact, he walked over to Rias' desk, still naked, and picked his towel up off the desk when he heard a shriek behind him. He turned to see Asia standing behind him covering her eyes with both hands, her face as red as a fire truck.

"Everything alright Asia? Are you hurt?" he asked urgently as he walked over, still naked mind you, to Asia to examine her for injuries. She shook her head wordlessly in response, still covering her eyes with both hands.

"Then why did you feel the need to assault my eardrums with that God-awful shriek?" he asked irritatedly, he did not particularly like high-pitched noises when he wasn't expecting them.

"Y-y-you... You're naked." she replied with a trembling voice.

"Oh... Wow, okay. I'm so sorry, I forgot that you'd be coming. Here, now you can look." he said as he trotted back over to Rias' desk and wrapped the towel around his waist and dried himself with magic. He was still undressed, but now his modesty and Asia's innocence, were still relatively intact. Asia slowly peeked out from between her fingers to ensure he was no longer naked before uncovering her eyes.

"So Asia-chan, I gotta ask. Did you like what you saw?" he asked with a crooked grin. Asia turned beet-red once again as she said.

"No no, not at all!" she squeaked in an adorably embarrassed tone as she decided to stare at the ground.

"So are you saying I'm ugly?" he asked in a mock hurt tone as he leaned back on Rias' desk.

"No! You're actually kinda handsome, it's just that I... What I mean to say is-. Awooo, I don't know what to say." she blubbered adorably as she continued to stare intently at the ground.

"Okay okay, chill out Asia-chan, you're just too much fun to tease. Also, you're not a nun anymore it's okay to have dirty thoughts or even give voice to them. In fact, I'm sure Hyoudou-san would appreciate it if you were a little more... risque around him." he replied with a wry chuckle.

"You really think Ise-kun would like me if I were more perverted?" she asked nervously as she pushed her index fingers together.

"Well, I'm not saying that you should change to please him. But have you met him? But hey, don't mind me. If I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't be single would I? Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to get dressed. That is... unless you prefer I remain naked." he replied coyly.

"No thank you! Please get dressed." she squeaked in response as she stared at the ground once more. He left the clubroom and headed back to his room to dress as he reflected on the conversation with Asia. He could see why Issei was so protective of her, she was just so cute and innocent that even he felt a slight desire to protect her. He even felt a little bad about teasing her, she had probably never seen a single normal naked man before; much less one as attractive as he.

He was well aware of the fact the he was attractive, he had the toned body like a swimmer or martial artist with strong,regal features and shoulder length-ebony hair and bright silver eyes (sorry, had to fit a character description in somewhere). He didn't like to talk about it but he had used magic to improve his looks like most male Devils did.(Think about it, every single male Devil character that's been introduced in the series has been Gary-Stu gorgeous. Case and points: Kiba, Sirzechs, Sairaorg, Vali, Raiser((kinda)), and Lord Gremory. Coincidence? I think not.) It wasn't a huge change, just trying out a new eye color here and there, clearing up any acne he had and whatnot. He didn't need any to improve his physique, his strict workout regimen saw to that. He actually preferred to woo women with his personality. But there was something fun about knowing that 2 out of 3 women in a room wanted you, but usually the one he liked was part of the third that didn't judge him on looks alone.

He returned to his room and dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He glanced around the room as he searched for his phone to give Mil-tan a call. After a brief examination of all his usual hiding places, he began to search on his hands and knees for it. He was in the process of lifting up and examining the area underneath his King James' Bible when there was a knock on his door.

"Ahem, Vale-san, may I come in? I found your phone on Buchou's desk and I thought I'd return it." Asia asked timidly through the door.

"Yeah sure, come in." He said as he tossed the Bible onto his bed with a thump.

"Hey, here's your phone." Asia said as she stepped inside and set it on his trunk.

"So Asia, how are you adjusting to being a Devil? Is it as terrible as the church makes it sound?" he asked with a grin as he took a seat on his bed.

"No, it's not terrible. But I'm still fairly new to this, I hope I do a good job at it though. Though Buchou says I can't pray or read the Bible anymore, that makes me kinda sad though." she replied as she clasped her hands in her lap and gazed down at the floor looking depressed.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Thanks for dropping off my phone. And Rias is only half right. You can still read the Bible and pray, you just gotta be willing to push through the pain. Though from what I've heard, Rias has done more for you than He ever has. And I'm positive Rias will take good care of you, to paraphrase Pslams 23: Rias is your Shepherd, you shall not want." he replied sagely as he grabbed his phone and pocketed it.

"Ah! You know that verse? It's one of my favorites! Where did you learn it?" Asia asked in surprise as she looked up to stare at Vale.

"Well a friend of mine in England was always blathering on about the Bible, so I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. I gotta say that from an objective stand point, the Old Testament seems to indicate that this God character does not play well with others." he replied with a shrug as he picked up the Bible laying next to him on the covers.

"Wait! How are you reading the Bible? Every time I try to read it I get a bad headache!" Asia exclaimed.

"I have a very high pain tolerance. Would you like to me read you a few verses? At least until I get a nosebleed that is." he asked casually as he gestured to the book in his hand.

"Ah, yes please!" Asia said as she took a seat cross-legged on the floor and folded her hands in her lap.

"Alrighty, where shall I start?" he asked with a smile as he opened the Bible...

Vale spent the next several hours reading various passages to the former nun. Asia insisted on asking him to reread several verses that she claimed were her favorites. Vale unfortunately came down with a nosebleed later that night and had to stop reading. After that, he decided to call it a night and sent Asia on her way back to Issei's house.

"Alright Asia, I think that's enough for tonight. Off you pop. Back to Issei's house. Sleep tight, sweet dreams, and all that nonsense." he said as he held the tissue to his bleeding nose. He almost dropped the tissue though, as Asia turned around and wrapped him tightly in a hug.

"Thanks for reading to me, it means a lot that you would do something like that for me. I don't think there's any way I can repay you for being so nice to me." she said, her arms still wrapped tightly around his waist with her face pressed against his pecs.

"Well, worst case scenario, if things don't work out being Rias' Bishop maybe you could be my servant." he replied with a shrug.

"Maybe. I don't think I'd mind that as long as Issei could come too." Asia said as she released him

"Yeeugh, that might be a deal-breaker. But let's put a pin in that, you need to get home." he said as he removed her arms from his waist. Asia nodded before trotting off down the hallway. Vale was more than a little pleased to see Issei looking at him, obviously confused by the sight before him. Vale stuck his tongue out at him before closing the door and headed to bed.

Vale woke the next day and headed to the shower in the clubroom, this time making sure to bring a change of clothes with him. He opened the door to see a handsome young man in his early 20's with short yellow hair and dark blue eyes. He was wearing an outfit that consisted of a burgundy blazer with matching pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his open blazer was a white dress shirt that wasn't fully buttoned (just one button short), giving a slight view to his chest. He would've been very attractive, if he didn't positively ooze douchiness.

He was standing in front of Rias with his hand underneath her chin standing, less than two inches from her face. All of this seemed inconsequential as he saw the look of utter disgust on Rias' face as he leaned into kiss her. Without waiting for an explanation, he launched himself across the room and tackled him over the couch. They hit the floor in a tangled pile of limbs, burgundy clothing, and pajama bottoms. Riser opened his mouth to speak but was silenced and Vale fist collided with his nose, right before Vale brought his fist back and slammed it into Riser's throat, causing him to gag as he temporarily choked on his Adam's apple. Before he could recover, Vale slammed his elbow into his jaw, before bringing his elbow down hard on Riser's nose. Rias let this vicious beating continue for another twelve seconds before she spoke up,

"Vale, stop.(Note, no exclamation point) That's my fiance, Riser Phenex." Rias said. Vale froze his arm mid-strike as he turned slowly to face Rias once more.

"Seriously? This guy? Did you suddenly grow a malignant brain tumor overnight?" he asked incredulously.

Rias then explained how she was engaged to Riser, something it appeared that Issei had learned the night before. Riser had insisted that Vale apologize to which Vale had stated wasn't gonna happen and left to give them some privacy. When he was on his way back to the clubroom he saw Rias and her servant's returning from the clubroom.

"So how'd it go?" he asked. Rias motioned for her servant's to continue with out her and waited until her servant's had disappeared from view before saying.

"I challenged him to a Rating Game with our engagement on the line. The game happens in ten days." She explained.

"You scared?" he replied.

"No."

"Are you stupid? I may be new to this but even I've heard of Riser's impressive record in Rating Games." he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not scared because I was hoping you would help us train. You probably have way more battle experience than he does, and I have no intention of losing to him."

"Rias-hime... permission to hug?" Vale asked flatly. Rias nodded in response. Vale wrapped Rias in a hug as he exclaimed.

"Oh hells yeah! I'm gonna teach you guys to kick _so much _ass! You will not lose to that joke of a man on my watch. When do we start?" he asked as he pulled out of the hug.

"Well, we're about to head to my family's vacation house in the mountains, you gonna come?"

"Yeah. Don't even need to pack."

They met back in the clubroom before they used the magic circle to travel to Rias' family vacation home. After which they decided to split into two groups. Rias would take Asia, Akeno, and Mil-tan and was going to work on practicing magic. Vale would take Yuuto, Issei, and Koneko and work on practicing their physical attributes. Kiba came into Vale's room as he was getting settled and asked,

"So what's the plan for out training this week."

"Let's just say... Welcome to hell." Vale said with a grin as he pulled his sword out of it's sheath and examined the evil blade.

Author's Note: Alrighty, here it is. Also while writing this chapter, an idea occurred to me. Just an idea, probably never gonna happen, but just wanna let you know, I am pondering Vale/Asia. Also, if you guys had to choose, which do you think would be better for a first Bishop, Ravel or Kuroka? As always, I really appreciate your reviews. As always feel free to PM me with any questions, comments, or ideas you got for my story, always eager to hear from my readers. This is the 19th Angel, signing off...


	6. Chapter 6

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, getting awfully close to 2,000 views. First off, I wanna say thanks everybody for the reviews, this story may actually be more popular than my Sekirei story. Second, it seems that a lot of people don't like some of my peerage ideas. So I'm going to put some things in perspective, what follows was the original peerage list. Vale(King), Vali(Queen), Cao Cao(Knight), Irina(Knight), Leonardo(Pawn), Kokabiel(Bishop), Raynare(Bishop), Mil-tan(Rook), and Siegfried(Rook). Now as you can see, that's pretty bad right there. Now, to solve the problems I've been having with coming up with his peerage I've posted a poll on my profile to help decide who will join Vale's peerage, it has quite a few options to choose from.

Chapter 6- Training Day(s)

"How much longer until we can stop doing push-ups?" Issei whined to Vale as he reclined against the stone masonry of the stately mountain manor that was the base of their impromptu boot camp for her Rating Game with Riser. Koneko had made a snide remark to Vale, after which, Vale had made them do push-ups. Issei's jeans and t-shirt and jacket were all drenched in sweat as he continued to toil under the mid-day sun. Vale had made them all dress in jeans, t-shirts, and track suit jackets to help improve endurance. Koneko and Kiba continued to do their push-ups in silence as sweat streamed down their faces. But unlike Issei, they had elected not to complain.

"You can stop when Koneko learns not to sass me. Rias put me in charge of you guys, and I'm trying to teach you that the mistake of one person can cost the entire team. That's why I roll solo for the most part." Vale said as he proceed to gouge some leftover food from their earlier lunch out of his teeth.

"Why aren't you doing them?" Issei whined, little did he know every time he complained to Vale, he tacked on 25 extra push-ups.

"Because I'm not fighting Riser in ten days. Plus, I can give the guy on the Bowflex commercial a run for his money." Vale replied offhandedly.

"No, you're just being a tyrannical asshole because Rias gave you a small measure of power over us for a few days." Koneko grumbled from her position next to Kiba. Vale stopped dead in the process of cleaning his teeth as he turned to glare at Koneko. Without uttering a single syllable he strode over and stepped onto Kiba's back before he said.

"Continue Yuuto-san. **Now **I'm being a tyrannical asshole, Toujo-san." Vale said. They spent the rest of the day doing push ups before breaking to eat dinner. After they finished eating Rias called Vale back to her room to discuss the first day of training.

"So do you know why Koneko and Issei seemed so upset with you at dinner?" She asked as they entered the lavishly decorated bedroom, Vale glanced across the room to see her bed sported a canopy of crimson silk with a lacy black fringe. Along with crimson sheets. _Wow, her family is really big on the whole crimson deal, _Vale thought to himself.

"Yeah, I was a bit of an asshole during training today. Koneko decided to get mouthy, so I had to punish all of them." he replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to look out the window at the nearly full moon as Rias walked behind a partition and started to change into what Vale assumed would be her sleepwear.

"Well I hardly think that warrants punishing all of them." Rias replied with concern from behind the partition.

"Well, you may or may not know this, but one person's mistake can spell disaster for everyone on the battlefield. Besides, they need to perform better as a team. You guys may or may not realize this but I've noticed that you guys actually just operate in pairs. You and Akeno, Issei and Asia, and Kiba and Koneko. You guys need to function as one unit, not three separate ones. So I decided to give them a common enemy to focus on during uhhhh..." Vale's voice drifted off mid-sentence as Rias gently tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see her standing behind him wearing a sheer lace nightgown that was nearly transparent... and nothing else. Vale couldn't stop his eyes from meandering down to the valley between her breasts, they looked so soft and bouncy that Vale had to consciously stop himself from reaching out and caressing them. His eyes continued downward, traveling over her flat stomach down to her curvaceous hips before once more snapping up to gaze once more into her aquamarine eyes.

"Was the word you were looking for 'training' perhaps?" she said with a small giggle. Vale swallowed hard and nodded wordlessly. He could hear his pulse in his ears and feel it in... other places, manly places. He tried to focus back on the current moment to avoid letting his imagination run away.

"Well anyways, I just wanted you to know that Mil-tan is coming along just fine learning how to use magic from Akeno. She says he has quite the knack for it from what I hear."

"Well that's good. Now, if there's nothing else, I think I shall retire for the night. Probably best, if I wish to avoid doing something I may later regret." he said as he turned and headed toward the door.

"Wait." Rias said as he reached for the door handle. Vale's hand stopped midway to the doorknob as he turned to face her once more.

"I was hoping you could stay a little longer so we could get to know each other. I mean you're helping us train for a Rating Game, not to mention the fact that we live together and I know barely anything about your past or your interests. I was actually hoping that we could be friends, especially considering how much you're doing for me and my servants by keeping my territory clear of Strays." Rias said as she took a seat on her bed and patted the area next to her on the bed.

"Fine. But if we're going to talk you've **got **to put some underwear on, at least temporarily." he said as he did his best not to stare at Rias' chest.

"Alright, that's fair." Rias said as she got up and walked over to her dresser and pulled on a black lacy thong. She grabbed a bra and put it on over her shoulders before asking,

"Could you help me with the last part?" she said as she gestured to the hook on the back of her brassier. Vale heaved an enormous sigh before walking over and gently hooking the back of her bra together, taking a few moments to admire the pale, flawless skin of Rias' back and hips before she turned to face him once more.

"What's with the sighing?" she asked with a puzzled look as she turned once more to face the Beleth clan heir.

"Just trying to control my emotions and whatnot. Usually when I'm alone with a woman who is in a similar state of undress to yourself I don't usually have to worry about remaining proper and respectful. I'm usually too focused on getting my pants off to worry about anything else. But enough about that, so what did you wanna talk about?" he asked as he walked back over to the window and sat down on the windowsill.

"Well I was hoping we could get to know each other better, as I said. So someone like you who has traveled the world all their life surely has some interesting stories, care to share any?" she said as she once more took a seat on her bed and elegantly crossed her legs as she laced her fingers over her knee and leaned forward in anticipation.

"I have precious few tales I desire to share. Even fewer I can share with a lady with an upbringing like yours. Besides I'm not as interesting as you seem to believe I am." Vale said with a shrug from his seat on the windowsill. He didn't get why she thought his life was so great. It had it's ups and downs just like anyone else's.

"Come on Vale, don't be so modest. Someone with your job pretty much has to experience many events that are worth sharing." Rias replied. Vale sighed once more as he said,

"Rias-hime, I'm just a normal guy, I'm nothing special. _You _are something special. Most women I meet with an upbringing like yours are snobby, elitist bitches. You however, are fair, smart, and above all kind. These traits are hard to come by in today's world and yet you have them all, along with killer looks and money coming out your ears. One day, you are going to give one man the extraordinary honor of devoting the rest of his life to making you happy. I do not know who that man is, but I'm absolutely sure it isn't Riser. That's why I'm helping you guys train, and our training won't be helped by our staying up all night gossiping like school girls. No offense meant." Vale said as he saw Rias blush a red almost as dark in color as her hair was. He cracked a small smile at seeing her blush, she was so strong and confident all the time, it was nice to see there was an average girl under all of it.

"Now Rias, I'm going to head to bed. I suggest you do the same. We have a long nine days of training ahead of us." he said as he opened the door and headed for the guest house that he and Mil-tan were staying in. He was walking through the opulently decorated foyer to the front door when a small black cat scampered across his path. It stopped directly in front of him and sat, unmoving in front of him.

"Shoo. Go away." Vale said as he made a shooing motion with his hand. The cat remained motionless. Vale sighed as he went to walk around the cat, only for it to mirror his movements and stop once more in front of him.

"Can I help you?" Vale asked exasperatedly, hardly expecting an answer. Which is why his heart nearly left his ribcage, a feat which was quite survivable for him due to his Abyss Physique, when the cat spoke.

"Well, now that you mention it, I'm quite interested in why you just came from Rias-chan's bedroom." said the cat, which sounded exactly like one Sirzechs Lucifer.

"JEEZUS! Wait, Sirzechs-dono? Why are you- never mind that. I was just talking to Rias about the first day of training. Trust me, if I did anything you're thinking of, I wouldn't mind if you killed me. I'd be too busy celebrating to care." Vale replied to the cat. It narrowed its eyes at him before replying,

"Hmm, this is true. Most men would willingly die in exchange for a night of passion with Rias. Anyways, I'm here about your assault on the church. I watched the whole thing and I'm wondering this: Why did you sustain such grievous injuries? I've seen your record, you're way better than you're performance at the church seems to indicate." Vale hesitated for a few moments before replying,

"It was a mixture of having to suppress my power to avoid being sensed, having to worry about Mil-tan, and using my magic carelessly. 'Twas not my finest hour, I should have been able to level that church and everyone in it with a moderate amount of effort. But I messed up, it won't happen again." Vale replied, astounded that he was holding conversation with a _cat. _More so astounded that the cat was technically, King of the Underworld.

"Hmmm, understandable. Also, why are you helping Rias train for a Rating Game against her fiance? Both our father and I support this engagement, and you would do well not to arouse his ire or mine." the cat asked as it tilted its head at him.

"I'm helping her because she asked for my help. While you and Lord Gremory may support the engagement. I myself, find Senor Phenex a ginormous, prick-shaped douche. Also, remember Rias asked **me **for help, meaning she doesn't like or support this marriage. Sirzechs-dono, I've been in Rias' shoes before in this particular scenario, and if she doesn't want to marry this guy, then I will do anything I can to help her avoid it." Vale replied nostalgically as he remembered the feeling of coming home to see his parent's talking to the representative from the Sitri Clan.

"Hmmm, I did not know this. I will take this under advisement. Thank you Vale, once again you have revealed yet another hidden insight into Rias-chan's life and mind." the cat replied before padding off towards the kitchen.

"I just held a conversation with a cat. It's a bad sign that that wasn't even the weirdest thing I've done this week." Vale said to himself as he headed back to his room at the guest house...

_9 days later..._

Vale ducked under Kiba's swing as Kiba swung the wooden bokken at Vale's chest. Vale felt a slight breeze on his long, black hair from the speed and force of Kiba's swing as he lunged forward, before pivoting on one foot and bringing the wooden sword down hard across Kiba's back. There was the sound of cracking wood as the sword splintered across Kiba's strong back under the force of Vale's swing. Kiba tumbled to the ground with a grunt and a thud.

"See, that's why I prefer plastic swords to wooden ones for sparring. You okay Kiba-san?" Vale asked as he walked over and extended a hand to help the Knight up. Kiba gratefully took the hand as Vale pulled him up as Kiba rubbed the spot on his back where Vale had broken the bokken.

"Yes, I'm fine Vale-kun." Kiba replied cheerfully. If Vale hadn't done it himself, he never would've guessed that someone had just broken a wooden sword on his back.

"Hey man, sorry again about the pushups on the first day, I just knew that with Koneko being a Rook, conventional punishment wouldn't work. I knew she was soft on you so I had to use you as a way to punish her. But, that aside, you're really good with a sword, dude." Vale said as he gingerly patted Kiba on the shoulder.

"Thanks, but you're better Vale-kun. It seems I still have more to learn." Kiba replied with a pained grin on his face.

"Kiba-san, there is always more to learn. Even for the best swordsman. Well, that's all the time we have for today. You all need to get some rest. You guys absolutely have to win tomorrow's Game for Rias-hime. Failure is not an option" Vale said as they headed back into the house for dinner.

_Later that night..._

"Alrighty guys, the thing to remember during the Game is to stay on your toes. Don't get distracted by explosions or anything, kick their asses while they stop and ogle. Also, Asia-chan if you can't see Akeno-san or Rias-hime, you should not be there." Vale said as they finished going over their strategy for tomorrow's Rating Game. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement before Rias said,

"Could you all head back to your rooms and get some sleep. I need a moment alone with Vale-kun." Rias replied from her seat at the head of the ornate dining table. Vale gestured to Mil-tan who nodded in acknowledgment and headed back to his room.

After their servants had left Rias got up from her seat and began to make her way towards Vale's chair. Vale decided to shorten the wait by getting up and meeting her halfway .

"So, how you feeling?" he asked as he stopped in front of her.

"I'm actually kind of nervous. But we've done all we can, and on that note I wanna say thanks. You've been a huge help these past ten days. I really appreciate you taking time to help me with this." She said as she reached out and wrapped Vale in what was, to date, the best hug of his young life.

"Hey, it's no problem, you ever need anything just ask. I'm just sorry I can't be at the Rating Game. I got a call from a client of mine in England and I gotta leave tonight. But I'll be back the day after tomorrow." Vale said as he returned her hug, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his.

"Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed. But all we can do is hope for the best." Rias replied as she released him from her hug.

"You guys are gonna do fine, but I'll see you in a few days. I gotta go pack. See you soon." Vale said as he turned and headed back to his room to pack.

_Two days later..._

Vale appeared in the magic circle in the clubroom of the old schoolhouse with a black glow. He ganced around the room, and upon seeing that it was empty said,

"Wow, this place is really depressing." he said as he took off for Rias' room. He knocked twice on the old wooden door. For several seconds there was no answer. Until finally he heard,

"Come in." Rias said though something sounded off in her voice. He opened the door to see Rias sitting on the edge of her bed hunched over and holding a wad of tissues in her hand. Her cheeks looked like she had been crying. He walked over to her and took a seat next to her as he put an arm around her shoulder before he asked,

"Hey, what's wrong. Why is the beautiful Princess of Destruction crying?" he asked as he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She sniffed and without uttering a word handed him a signed envelope Vale took it from her hand and opened it to see a card decorated with a border with a bird and flame motif. Vale opened the card, it read,

_You are hereby cordially invited to,_

_The engagement party _

_of_

_Riser Phenex_

_and_

_Rias Gremory_

_in three days time_

_at Phenex Castle_

_Dress code: Formal_

Vale's heart sunk down into his stomach as he read the words on the card. He sat there unable to think or comprehend what he was reading. Until, like a shaft of sunlight through a bank of dark clouds on an overcast winter day, it came to him. An idea, if he strayed one detail from it he was doomed to failure. But he would not fail, he would not let himself fail.

"Rias, wait here. I've got an idea." Vale said as he sprinted to his room to retrieve a book.

_Meanwhile, in the not too distant future..._

_Vale stood next to Rias, doing his best not to sweat through his shirt. He was so nervous it almost wasn't funny._

"_Are you sure this will work?" Rias asked from her seat at the table. Vale covered his mouth with his hand as he chuckled before saying._

"_Of course not, but it has too." he said as he pushed the door open and headed down the long hallway to the ballroom when a figure stepped out from the shadows._

"_You! Mind telling me what one of the hosts of the Two Heavenly Dragons is doing in a place like this?" he asked the young man in front of him..._

Author's Note: Alrighty next chapter may take a while to upload seeing as how I am planning on taking a small break from writing. No more than a week though, also Great Red is on the poll an yes the Evil Pieces will work on him because contrary to one of his titles, he is filed as a True Dragon not a Dragon God, that label solely applies to Ophis(who will be part of Vali's harem), so sayeth the wiki. Don't forget to vote on the poll. Also, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. This is The 19th Angel, signing off...


	7. Chapter 7

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, 13 people voted on the poll so far. Kuroka and Vali are tied for first. Followed by Valerie, Tiamat, Arthur, Great Red, Fenrir, and Bikou. Several others behind that. Bottom line is that nearly every one got a vote. Also, to any who search for this story via pairing, Rias and Vale aren't a romantic pairing I just see them becoming very close friends. I originally had an idea for a Vale/Rias pairing, but like I said we'll see what happens. Also, just FYI, I never said that Vale will be successful in restarting his clan. Also, last bit, something occurred to me when I thought about Vale being a one woman guy. This is the Highschool DxD universe, this thing is freaking built for harem fics. So, Vale will be getting a harem. Not sure who will be in it yet, suggestions are welcome. Also, for future reference, whenever I talk about future events in a chapter remember what Yoda said: always in motion, the future is.(AKA: things don't always transpire exactly as described)

Chapter 7-Something Borrowed

Vale scurried around his room desperately trying to make sure that he had everything he needed to ruin Riser's engagement party that night. Rias had left a few hours ago to get ready for the aforementioned party. His preparations were not helped by his two new familiars, the twin Shikigamis, Zenki and Goki, trying to eat anything that would fit in their gargantuan, toothy mouths. His last night in England he had dropped by the Familiar forest with Mil-tan and they had each grabbed their familiar. Mil-tan had chosen an Undine he had named Kasumi. He desperately rifled through the trunk at the end of his bed searching for the book he needed to reference to make sure for the umpteenth time to make sure what he had planned was legal among the 72 Pillars clans.

"Mil-tan, have you seen my Traditions of the 72 Pillars book anywhere?" Vale asked as he tossed the books from his trunk when he couldn't find the one he needed.

"Yeah, I saw Zenki grab it a few minutes ago-nyo." Mil-tan called from his room. Vale stood up and took off at full speed towards the clubroom, this had become Zenki and Goki's favorite hangout in their short tenure with him. He arrived just in time to see Zenki dangling his book over his mouth. Vale extended an arm and shot a javelin made of ice towards the Shikigami. It hurtled towards the 7-foot tall, blue, horned Shikigami, before embedding itself in the wall with a _SHUNK! _less than three inches from Zenki's throat.

"Human forms. Now." Vale said with barely contained rage. Two seconds later, the ogres were replaced by two tall, attractive boys. Both were dressed in brown leather jackets and black jeans. One had had messy blue hair. The other had long, bright red hair with bangs that covered one eye, in truth Goki only had one eye, Zenki had five, Vale didn't even wanna think about where Zenki was hiding them in his human form.

"Listen, go pass out fliers for the rest of the night. If either of you eat anything of mine or Rias' again, I'll kill you both. When I get back, we will have a serious discussion of your behavior." Vale said angrily, both of the boys nodded before exiting the clubroom. Vale walked over to the book Zenki had dropped on the floor.

"Yada yada yada... Ah! Here it is, 'while this tradition has fallen into disuse since the end of the Great War, it still has valid legal precedence in the Underworld.' let's just hope Sirzechs backs me up on its legality." Vale said as he ripped the page out of the book and pocketed it as he went to get dressed for the party...

_An hour later at Phenex Castle..._

Vale appeared in front of the Medieval European-style castle. It was adorned with many banners the bore the insignias of both the Houses Phenex and Gremory. He grimaced at the sight of the servants serving horsd'oeuvres to the countless pompous High-class Devils. He quickly surveyed the courtyard but saw hide nor hair of anyone of help to him so he turned towards the opulently decorated front gate and headed inside. The front door led to a beautiful entry hall that had an orange carpet running down the center of the hall with magic torches on either side, bathing the crowded hall in soft, flickering orange light. He only had to search for a few minutes before he ran into Akeno, who was dressed in a black yukata with a yellow obi.

"Hey Akeno, where's Rias?" Vale asked as he walked up next to Akeno. Under normal circumstances he would've commented on the normally beautiful girl who currently looked absolutely breathtaking in her current attire, but these weren't normal circumstances.

"Ara ara, what are you doing here Vale-san?" Akeno remarked as she saw one of the rarest sights in the Underworld, Vale Beleth dressed in formal attire.

"Riser invited me to rub his engagement in my face, now I'm gonna make him look like an idiot in front of everyone. Now again, where is Rias?" Vale asked, hardly in a mood to be teased or treated like a child.

"She's up in one of the dressing rooms on the third floor there's a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, you'll be hard pressed to miss it."

"Thank you Akeno-san, hang tight I'll be back soon. Ooh! Koneko-chan, may I borrow your iPod?" Vale called as he spotted Koneko and Kiba entering the entry hall dressed in formal attire and ran to meet them. Koneko in a ruffled white dress, Kiba in a black tuxedo...

_Up in Rias' dressing room..._

Rias heaved a titanic sigh as she examined herself in the mirror. By all accounts she looked beautiful in the long flowing, white wedding dress with gold accents, but she didn't think she looked beautiful, all she felt like doing was crying. She wanted to cry, but she'd done enough of that over the past few days to last a lifetime, even for a Devil. All she could do now was watch as she was forced to marry Riser Phenex. At least she could take comfort in the fact that Issei was still alive, even if it was only just. But despite that, she felt like her entire world was crumbling around her. She was supposed to be a King, she was supposed to protect her servants from harm yet she'd only been able to sit back and watch as Riser had bludgeoned Issei within an inch of his life. Rias was distracted from her thought by a knock on the dressing room door.

"Who is it?" she asked, hoping it wasn't Riser or one of his servants come to gloat.

"Strippergram." she heard a familiar voice call from behind the door. She giggled as she strode over to the door and opened it to see Vale leaning against the door frame with a crooked grin on his face. He was dressed in a long black tunic with gold trim and black leggings with a stiff shiny, black belt around his waist, the whole outfit was completed with a long black, velvet cape that went almost all the way down to the floor that was embroidered on the back and shoulders with the Beleth clan insignia in gold thread. Rias' first thought was that his outfit looked like something from a medieval European nobleman's wardrobe. She opened her mouth to greet him when he interrupted by asking,

"Why, by all that is sacred, are you wearing a wedding dress?" Vale asked incredulously as he stood up.

"Oh this? Riser thought it was a good idea, and my family agreed, so here I am." she said with a despondent shrug.

"Oh, that'll never do." he replied as he entered the room and locked the door behind him.

"So you said you had a plan to get me out of this. Mind filling me in?" she asked as she saw a magic circle appear in front of him.

"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen. Filling you in makes you co-conspirator. When this go down both your family and Riser's are gonna be pissed, they have to believe this is my plan, not yours. If they think you helped they might pull you out of school to keep us apart and just move the date. I will not let that happen." he said as he knelt down and opened the box that had appeared in the circle and pulled out a dark red and black dress before walking over and handing it to Rias.

"Take this and turn around." he said as she took the dress from his hand. Rias nodded and before she say anything coherent Vale yanked down the zipper on the back of her dress. Rias squeaked in a noneffective protest.

"Oh don't you go getting modest on me now. I've pretty much seen you naked already, letting me see your underwear won't kill either of us. It might raise my blood pressure a tad but not much else." he said as he worked on removing the wedding dress from her. As soon as it was off, she headed towards the mirror to get change when Vale called out,

"Wait, real quick." he said as he got in front of her and gently wrapped on of her hands in both his own.

"Rias Gremory, by the blood of my forefathers, I swear you will never have to marry Riser Phenex." he said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Rias' face flushed adorably at his words at his words as she replied,

"Vale, I... don't know what to say. It means so much to me that you're doing all of this to help me. I mean, you've already done so much by helping us train for the Rating Game. And now this... Wait a minute... Are you draining my magic?" she asked as she felt her magical power begin to wane. Vale flashed her a guilty grin before saying,

"Yep. And now, for my next trick." he said as he manifested the Power of Destruction in on hand and shot a blast of it towards the wedding dress on the ground, disintegrating it.

"Sorry, must dash. Don't tear the dress, it's a rental." he said as he flashed her a smile and headed out the door once more and was about head back down to the party when he literally ran smack dab into one of the bustiest and most sluttily dressed women he'd ever seen. And he'd seen plenty. She had long, wavy purple hair covering one eye that matched her lipstick. She had a navy blue tunic top with gold accents and a pale blue skirt with open sides, and black shoes over matching thigh-high stockings with garter belts. Her top showed a ridiculous amount of cleavage that was held by a gold choker along with a white overcoat with black and gold accents with matching pauldrons.

"What are you doing up here? Guests aren't allowed in this part of the castle." she asked severely as she saw the insignia on his shoulder. Vale was silent as he tried to remember all the info he'd had his contacts dig up on Riser's peerage. Until finally he replied,

"Holy cow! You're Yubelluna! The Bomb Queen! I've seen all the Rating Games you've fought in! You're amazing! If you don't mind me saying, I've always thought you're nickname was in bad taste. You my dear, are an artist. Sorry, I know I'm not allowed back here. I just wanted to meet you." he lied, while normally he could lie all day to someone. But a lie of that caliber made him want to vomit, this woman was a talentless hack. But, if he played his cards right he would be able to hit Riser where it hurt, his pride. Yubelluna shot him a smile before saying,

"Hmph, it's nice to see someone who appreciates talent. Perhaps you'd like to go somewhere we could talk in private." she said as she turned and gestured down the hallway with one hand.

"I'd like that very much." he lied as she turned and lead him down the hallway to her room.

_An hour and a half later back in the ballroom..._

Vale checked once more to make sure his preparations were complete before unplugging Koneko's iPod from the DJ's laptop and headed back to the dining room, they had just announced that dinner was about to be served. Just as he turned to head back he turned to see Riser glaring at him dressed in yet another douchey outfit.

"Hello, Mr. Phenex, I hope today finds you well." Vale lied. Riser remained silent so Vale continued saying,

"I do hope there are no hard feelings from last time. I rightfully thought you were trying to molest Rias." Vale continued.

"It doesn't matter Riser will get the last laugh anyways. Now, let us adjourn to the dining room. Dinner is about to commence."

"Sure thing. Quick Q though, have Yubelluna's lips always tasted like cherries?" Vale asked with a grin. Riser stopped and shot Vale a look of pure rage as he continue past Riser, deciding to let him stew in his own anger. They arrived at the dining room shortly after where Vale took a seat at the table where the members of the Occult Research Club next to Akeno with Koneko on his other side with Kiba next to her. The table was only a stone's throw from the table where the Phenex and Gremory clans were seated so that Rias could be near her servants.

"Here you go Koneko-chan, thanks for letting me borrow it. By the way, you look very pretty tonight." Vale said as he handed Koneko's iPod back to her.

"Thanks, you too. But why did you need it?" Koneko asked as she stowed it.

"You'll see soon enough." Vale said with a grin. Apparently, everyone else besides Riser and Rias was already seated when someone came on over the intercom and said,

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Mr. Riser Phenex!" a man announced as the door to the dining room opened and the speakers began blasting "Mr. Douchebag" by the artist Your Favorite Martian. As soon as she recognized the song, Koneko burst into a fit of snickering. Vale extended a hand towards her and said,

"That's what he gets for not springing for a band. Now come on, gimme some." he said as Koneko slapped him five as the DJ struggled to turn off the music. Riser continued, red-faced, to the table where the members of his family and Rias' were seated, trying to keep what was left of his dignity as he walked over to the table and took a seat.

"Sorry bout that folks. Now would you please put your hands together for Mr. Riser's blushing bride-to-be, Rias Gremory!" the DJ announced as the door opened once more to reveal Rias dressed in the beautiful crimson with black trim that he had lent her. He saw with immense satisfaction that Riser had turned to galre at him at the site of Rias out of her wedding dress. Vale made a cranking motion with one hand a he extended his middle finger at Riser on the other as Rias sat down next to Riser. Everyone began to dig in afterward. Vale refused to eat though, if things progressed as he planned, it'd be seen as rather rude to eat Riser's food. Half an hour later, Rias strode over to the table and took a seat before asking,

"Vale-kun, if you're planning something else, you better do it quick. From what I've guessed Riser has a plan to marry us before the night is over." Rias said as she took as seat across the table from him.

"Alrighty, thanks Rias-hime, I'll be right back." Vale said as he moved to stand up. When Rias cut in saying,

"Wait before you go, are you sure your plan is gonna work?" she asked. Vale flashed her a grin before replying,

"Of course not, but it has to." he said with a chuckle as he stood up and headed for the washroom. He was on his way back to the dining hall when he saw a crimson magic circle appear in front of him when he saw Issei materialize inside it.

"You! Mind telling me exactly what the host of one of the Two Heavenly Dragons is doing in a place like this?" he asked the young man in front of him. Issei turned to face him before saying,

"Hey Vale-san, I'm here to stop Buchou's engagement. Now, excuse me I have to go." Issei said as he turned and headed for the dining room. As he took off, Vale noticed something strange about his left hand, he couldn't see what the rest of the arm looked like under Issei's school blazer, but he didn't like the look of it.

"Issei, did your Sacred Gear evolve?" Vale asked as he reached out and grabbed Issei by the shoulder.

"What? No, of course not! Why do you ask?" asked as he turned to face Vale.

"This! This is why I ask!" Vale exclaimed as he grabbed Issei's wrist and held it up. As he did the sleeve fell down exposing more of the red scales that covered Issei's arm. If he had to guess he would've bet they went all the way up to the shoulder.

"You didn't... You dumb bastard! You gave your arm to the dragon in your Sacred Gear! Why would you do something like that?!" Vale asked angrily as he shook Issei's arm by the wrist

"I did it to save Buchou! Now, whether you like it or not, I'm gonna do this." Issei said as he turned around once more, shaking Vale's hand off his shoulder before taking off. Vale watched him walk for a few seconds before running to catch up with him. As soon as he was within reach, he said,

"I'm sorry Issei, but I can't let you do that." Vale said as he reached out and put Issei in an headlock as he applied pressure to Issei's carotid artery while using his Drain Zero ability. As soon as Issei realized what was happening, he reached up and tried to pry Vale's arms off his neck. He pulled with all his might but couldn't break Vale's iron hold on his neck. Vale kept the pressure and Drain Zero on him until he felt Issei slump unconscious in his arms. He released the pressure but kept using Drain Zero until he saw Issei's arm revert to normal. Without wasting time he draped Issei over his shoulder and walked him over to the nearest door, which thankfully turned out to be a coatroom and gently laid Issei on the ground before turning around and jogging back to the dining room. He opened the door to see Riser raising his glass, apparently midway through a toast,

"-is a joyous occasion for bot the houses of Gremory and Phenex. I look forward to spending my life with Rias, loving and respecting her as we-" Riser said, Vale rolled his eyes before putting his palm against his mouth and blowing an enormous raspberry. All noise in the dining room died instantly as all heads in the room turned to face the source of the noise.

"That is such a load of bullcrap! Riser Phenex has never loved or respected a woman in his entire life. Riser Phenex, I am Vale Beleth, heir apparent of the house Beleth, and I say you are an unfit mate for Rias Gremory! I dispute you and your families claim to Rias' hand and family name! I challenge you to single combat; with the prize being the hand of Rias Gremory. Do you accept or will you insult my honor and refuse my challenge?" Vale proclaimed loudly for all to hear from his position atop the staircase. All was silent in the dining room, everyone waited with rapt attention to hear Riser's response . But no response came for him, instead it came from a young girl with blonde twin ponytails with drill-like curls in a ruffled pink dress.

"That's ridiculous, there's no legal basis for your challenge! Only an idiot would believe that you could make a claim like that in this day and age! Besides, Riser has better things to do than indulge and idiot's half-baked challenge like that!" The girl said as she stood from her seat next to Riser.

"Actually while that practice has fallen to disuse, it's still a perfectly legal challenge. What do you say Mr. Phenex? Will you fight Mr. Beleth to prove your worthiness of my beloved sister?" Sirzechs replied from the end of the table. Everyone else was silent until, finally, Riser said,

"Riser accepts your challenge! Prepare yourself for battle!" Riser exclaimed in reply. Vale nodded and undid the clasp on his cape before draping it over the bannister of the stairway.

"Ready whenever you are! Sirzechs-dono, if you'd be so kind?" Vale said as he glanced down to Sirzechs.

"Certainly." Sirzechs said with a wave of his hand. Vale soon found himself standing in a stone arena across from Riser. The arena was simple with a Queen Evil Piece at each corner of the the square arena.

"This will be a simple one-on-one fight, the fight will continue until one party submits or cannot continue. Begin!" Sirzech's voice echoed throughout the ring. Before Vale could summon a weapon or cast a spell, Riser rushed forward and slammed a flame covered fist into Vale's jawing, sending Vale tumbling to the ground.

"This fight will easier than Riser thought." Riser said condescendingly as he watched Vale get right back on his feet, wiping a small trail of blood from his mouth.

"Fine, since it seem you don't feel the need to hold back, neither will I. Been a while since I got to go all out. You're lucky, you get to fight a Super Devil." Vale said as he extended his wings, all eight of them.

Riser's eyes widened as he saw the eight wings on Vale's back. Riser extended his eagle wings of flame before rushing towards Vale once more with his fist covered in flame. Vale saw his move coming though and ducked under Riser's punch. Riser was just about to turn around when something smacked him hard in the side, sending his body skipping across the stones of the arena floor tearing holes in his clothes and covering his arm, chest, and back in scrapes. All of which healed instantly thanks to his immortality power. He shakily got back to his feet to see a black dragon tail covered in armor plates extending from the middle of Vale's back.

"Wow, no idea where this came from, but I think I have Mr. Hyoudou to thank for it. I officially owe you one, Issei." Vale said as his body began to crackle with electricity and lightning bolts began to arc from his hands.

"Hmph, it seems that whore has chosen a worthy champion." Riser sneer as he summoned flame to his hands. All expression fell from Vale's face as he began to glare at Riser.

"What did you call her?" he asked coldly as he glared at Riser.

"I called her what she is, a whore." Riser sneered at Vale. Vale couldn't hear anything else after that. For a minute he couldn't see, hear, or feel anything other than pure hate for the man in front of him. He didn't care what happened to him, or anyone else for that matter. All he wanted, was to kill the man in front of him. He felt like he could _feel _his blood boiling with rage at the man before him.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL RIAS-HIME THAT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Vale roared before he heard a voice issue from the tail on his back

"ABYSSAL DRAGON OVER-BOOSTER!" the black tail called out as segmented black armor plates spread out, covering his limbs and torso in a suit of dragon-themed armor. The suit completed itself as a helmet formed over Vale's head as a foot-long horn black horn with gold stripes running up the sides extended from the helm. Vale took a moment to examine the armor it covered his entire body and if the way he felt was anything to go by, it had increased his power significantly. Three, six-inch claws extended from the front of each boot with a shorter, four-inch one, extending from the back. There were magic jets running along the back of the shoulders. Crimson jewels dotted the elbows, knees, and torso. The armor had gold trim tracing the edge of each plate. If Vale had to describe the armor in one word, it would be badass.

"Now, Mr Phenex. **Shall. We. Begin.**" Vale said as he covered himself in an aura of black lightning...

Author's Note: Alrighty here it is, the first of Vale's signature moves, Armor of the Abyssal Black Dragon Emperor. Vale's new tail is the first of a new variant of sacred gears for Devils, called Abyssal Gear. Still worrying about Vale's peerage. Mil-tan will probably end up being traded to Serafall(his choice). Currently it's:

Xenovia-Knight

Vali-Queen

Arthur-Knight

Kuroka- Pawn x2

Bikou- Rook

Ravel Phenex- Bishop

Le Fay- Bishop

Grim Reaper OC- Pawn x2

Leviathan, King of the Sea- Rook (Mutation Piece, obtained from Serafall)

Mystery Hero Faction Member- Pawn x4

Don't forget to vote on the poll, I do use it when deciding for his peerage. Also, I know it's the weekend and you guys have plans but, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. This is The 19th Angel, signing off...


	8. Chapter 8

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale Beleth.

Chapter 8- Fall of the Phenex

Vale watched Riser charge toward him once more, his fist once again engulfed in flame. Vale activated the magic jets on the back of his armor, propelling himself towards Riser with a _WOOSH! _Vale felt the g-forces of his acceleration pressing against his chest like an elephant was sitting on it. He could hardly breathe as Riser neared him at top speed. As soon as he knew he was close enough, Vale ducked underneath Riser's blow and delivered a vicious lightning-covered uppercut to Riser's jaw, sending the Phenex clan member soaring straight up into the air. Vale gave him no time to recover as he raised his right gauntlet, causing a black sphere to appear in his hands before a gigantic shard of ice erupted from it, surrounded by a vortex of what could only be described as material darkness. The shard soared skyward before piercing Riser through the chest and erupting out his back. Riser coughed out a fair amount of blood which cascaded down onto the visor of Vale's armor before Riser brought his still flaming fist down on the shard. There was a gargantuan sounding _CRACK! _As the ice shard splintered and Riser melted the section still lodged in his abdomen which had healed totally by the time he had righted himself.

"An impressive attack, but Riser is a Phenex! I am immortal, you cannot hurt me!" Riser yelled as he hurled an enormous fire ball towards Vale. It was at least eight feet wide, as it hurtled towards him, he thought about engaging one of his elemental magic forms but decided against it and tried to activate his magic jets, when his tail called out.

"ABYSS PHYSIQUE LEVEL 1 FORM ACTIVATED! LIGHTNING AGILITY!" his tail called out as the familiar markings spread across his armored form. He activated his magic jets and launched himself at Riser, milliseconds before Riser's spell exploded right where he had been standing. The spell's explosion caused a tremendous cloud of smoke to appear as it collided with the ground before exploding with a mighty _BTOOOOM! _throwing stone shrapnel shards all across the arena. As the cloud of smoke cleared Riser saw his opponent was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are you?! Show yourself! Come out and face Riser like a man!" Riser roared as he searched all around for his opponent.

"Talking in third person makes you sound like an even bigger douche than normal. You know that?" Vale said as Riser whipped around just in time to see Vale's gauntleted hand collide solidly with his nose, sending him flying into the ground with an _THUD! _and a_ CRACK! _as he collided with the ground, cracking it severely in a ten foot diameter around him.

"You're half right. You are immortal. I can't kill you." Vale said as he extended an arm toward Riser and began to prepare his next spell. Riser shakily got to his feet as Vale watched his wounds heal once more.

"But I can make you wish I had." Vale said in an oddly even tone as he cast the spell that froze every single atom of water in Riser's body. There was an ungodly scream, more animal than man, as shards of ice erupted all up and down Riser's body. They began melting almost soon as they appeared, Vale activated his magic jets once more as he pressed his attack. He slammed into Riser in a full-body tackle as he slammed the Devil against the wall of the crude arena, causing several of the ice shards poking out of Riser to shatter and fall to the ground. Riser lashed out in a half-blind flame-covered swing. It hit Vale in the side of the helmet, breaking through before it continued going until it hit him directly in his right eye.

Vale roared in pain as he felt a sensation like someone had jabbed a hot piece of iron through his eye, Vale had never felt a pain so intense in his entire life. It was as if there we millions of tiny needles burrowing into his brain, inching ever closer. Without thinking he brought his tail up and shoved the arrowhead shaped tip into Riser's stomach with a wet squelch. Blood splashed onto the ground as the tail called out.

"DRAIN ZERO: IMMORTALITY! TECHNIQUE REPLICATED AT 30 PERCENT. 47 PERCENT. 63 PERCENT." the tail called out as Vale watched with his one good eye as the tail appeared to absorb Riser's blood before Vale slammed his fist into Riser's face once more.

"78 PERCENT. 94 PERCENT. TECHNIQUE SUCCESFULLY REPLICATED AND INTEGRATED INTO ABYSS PHYSIQUE. POSITIVE FEEDBACK ACHIEVED!" the tail announced as Vale continued to hammer Riser's face with blows. Seconds later, Vale felt a warm, soothing sensation as vision returned to his right eye and the burns on his face began to heal. Without warning Vale felt himself thrown from Riser by an enormous gust of wind. Vale hit the ground and skipped of a few times with a _CLANG! _before he managed to right himself and regain a steady posture.

"Looks like I've evened the playing field. Neither of us can kill the other. But I can still kick your ass." Vale said with a grin, which was hidden from Riser's view by his now restored mask.

"That's impossible! Only Phenex clan members are immortal!" Riser exclaimed angrily as he once more rushed Vale. Vale activated his jets again as he rushed to meet Riser's attack head on. As soon as Riser neared him her heard his tail announce.

"ABYSS PHYSIQUE LEVEL 2 FORM ACTIVATED! FLUID MOBILITY!" Vale watched with satisfaction as a look of astonishment spread across Riser's face as the markings on his armor changed and his entire body shifted and flowed around Riser's arm and under his armpit before re-solidifying behind him. Vale wrapped Riser in a bear hug and pushed his jets to maximum and driving Riser into the ground with a crash. Riser roared in pain as Vale continued pushing Riser along the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind him, before rotating 180° and pushing off and propelling himself away using the jets.

"Alrighty, enough games. THIS! ENDS! NOW!" Vale roared as a magic circle appear in front of him and he pulled out what at first appeared to be a long staff with a corkscrew spike at the end. The entire weapon seemed to be wrapped in chains with sealing tags hung all over the chains. After he had removed the entire weapon, it was quite obviously a trident with concave blades on either side of the central tine. After he had removed it, he channeled the proper order of magical signal into the chains, causing them to shatter into nothingness.

"Behold, the trident of the Fisher King. A weapon of such magical power that it supposedly gave even the great Merlin cause to fear it. I dislike using it, it is too wild a weapon and is hard to control. But I'm sure you'll find out it's quite useful on occasion. Here, let me SHOW YOU!" Vale shouted as several small orbs of magic appeared in the air behind him and launched themselves toward Riser. He tried to dodge out the way, but there were too many and they pelted him like so many arrows from a platoon of archers. Some were lightning based and sent powerful jolts of paralyzing electricity through Riser's body. Others were shards of ice and pierced through him and tearing huge gouges of flesh from his bones. Riser fell to the ground under the barrage of magic arrows he hit the ground and lay there for a few seconds before his wounds healed once more. Before he could get up, Vale made three large magic circles appear in the air above Riser, one directly above him one up and to the right, and one to the left.

Before Riser could get up, three gigantic bolts of lightning issued out and struck Riser with and enormous _BOOM! _and the enormous sound of large amount of electricity arcing from one place to another. When Riser's burns had finally healed, he came to see Vale standing over him with his trident pointed at his throat, the trident was surrounded by a menacing black and crimson aura.

"Now Riser, submit! You may be able to regenerate, but a large enough blast of the Power of Destruction will leave you with no body to regenerate." Riser scowled and conjured a large fireball to his right hand before Vale slammed an armored boot onto Riser's forearm before he plunged his trident into his shoulder. Riser stifled a roar of pain as Vale ground the blades of the trident deeper into his shoulder before finally Riser grunted in a pained voice,

"Fine, you win. Riser submits." Riser grunted quietly before Vale bent down and seized him by the throat.

"Say it so all these nice people can hear you!" Vale said as he hoisted him by the tattered remains of his suit.

"Riser submits. Riser is defeated!" Riser declared to the audience they both knew full well was watching with rapt attention. As soon as he finished speaking the crude illusory arena fell away and they began to fall through a swirling purple backdrop. Vale released Riser, letting him fall back to the ground before the girl with the twin ponytails caught him. Vale dismissed the armor and tail and spread his eight wings and slowed his descent before alighting in the courtyard of Phenex castle. There was a chorus of murmurs as he tucked his wings in. Many of the people in the yards were pointing at him and whispering amongst themselves. He disregarded them all as he saw the front gate open to reveal all the members of the Occult Research Club, minus of course, Issei and Asia. As soon as they caught sight of him, Rias hiked up her dress and began to hurry down the steps toward him as fast as her high heels would allow. Her servants followed after her at a walk. Rias reached the bottom of the stairs and sprinted towards him before wrapping him in a hug.

"Vale, that was incredible! Where did you learn magic like that?" She said as she pulled away to examine him. She saw that incredibly he was completely uninjured. He was though, very tired. Using two different forms along with his new power and the trident with several high level spells had drained his stamina considerably.

"I learned that courtesy of a nasty little vampire who calls herself Dark Evangeline." he said as Kiba walked up and said,

"Here you go Vale-kun." Yuuto said as he handed Vale's cape back to him.

"Well well well Vale, that was an impressive match. Since you were victorious it seems you're now engaged to my sister. Treat her right. Whether or not you plan on ever marrying her or you're just attempting to keep her away from Riser remains to be seen. But it seems our entire family is in your debt. Both my father and I agreed during your match that we were wrong to force our beliefs on Ria-tan. But know this, from now on you will always have friend in the Gremory clan." Sirzechs said as he stepped out from the crowd wearing an ornate mantle. Vale looked over to see Rias blushing at Sirzech's childish nickname of her, before turning once more to face Sirzechs.

"Sirzechs-dono, as I said before, I have no intention of ever allowing harm to befall Rias-hime, by the hand of another or myself. Rias is currently the best friend I've ever had, though I'm not sure I'm entirely worthy of her love should she choose to give it. I thank you for your praise though." Vale said as he gave a small bow to the Satan. Sirzechs smiled before turning his head to gaze at something Vale couldn't see. Vale turned his head to see a large griffon standing some ways off in the distance.

"I think it would be best for everybody if you took your bride to be and headed home." Sirzechs said as he looked back to Vale. Vale nodded in agreement as he gently entwined his fingers in Rias' and led her towards the griffon, which knelt down to allow them to enter the saddle that was mounted on its back as they neared it. Rias got on the front of the saddle as Vale settled in behind her and draped his velvet cape over her shoulders to prevent her from catching cold as they rode. The griffon then bent it's knees and leaped high into the air before snapping its wings open and flapping them twice and banking towards the portal that led back to the human world.

Vale and Rias watched in silence as the lights of the underworld passed beneath them. It looked like something from a fairy tale. Two young devils, each the next head of their clan, heading back to the human world on the back of a griffon to get away from the stuffy upper-class society of Devils.

"You know, I hate to admit it but, I missed this." Vale said as he looked up into the purple night sky.

"Missed what?" Rias said as she turned to look at Vale seated behind her.

"The purple night sky, the feeling of belonging to a world, even if I don't really belong here." Vale said as he looked down at her.

"Hey Vale, can I ask you something?" she asked, still looking back over her shoulder at him.

"Anything." he replied simply.

"Why'd you do it? Why'd you challenge Riser to a fight? Surely there's some other way you could've broken off the engagement." she asked as she pulled his cape tighter around her shoulders. Vale was silent for a long time as he watched the sky above them.

"Have you ever wondered why I call you Rias-hime, even though I refuse to bow to your brother when he visits? I didn't even know about your rep as Princess of Destruction until your Rating Game. So, it's a tad curious that I use an honorific that means princess, don't you think?" Vale replied, still staring at the purple sky.

"Honestly, I never gave it much thought. I guess I have so many fans here, I just thought you were one of them. Sorry if that sounds conceited." she said with a shrug as she began to rub her arms to warm herself when Vale wrapped his arms around hers and pulled her close to him. She didn't say anything but she enjoyed the feel of his strong arms and chest holding her close. She usually spent so much time protecting her servants, it was nice to feel protected once in a while.

"I use the honorific for princess because you remind me of so many characters from fairy tales across the world. Strong, but beautiful. Wise, but kind and affectionate. Smart, but not conceited or arrogant. The day you walked into my life was the day it got way better. It was the day I started to feel like someone actually gave a damn about how my future would turn out and wouldn't just go their separate way when the job was over like my other friends. And those very reasons are why I challenged Riser to a fight for your hand in marriage. I did it because I saw how much you hated being forced to marry him, so I promised myself I would do whatever it took to break the engagement. I promised myself that when all else had failed you, I wouldn't. Rias, you are probably single-handedly responsible for beginning the path of the Beleth clan's rise back to power. For that Rias, you may forever think of me and my kin as your servants, I owe you a debt I cannot repay. Today was just an attempt to do so." he said as if it were the most plain thing in all of creation.

Rias had no idea how to respond to his speech but there was one thing she felt she needed to do. She lifted one leg up and moved it over to the other side of the saddle and repeated the action once more so she was sitting face-to-face with Vale. He opened his mouth to speak, but all possible words died in his throat when she wrapped her hands around the back of Vale's neck and pulled him into a kiss. Vale stopped trying to speak as he closed his eyes and placed one of his hands on Rias' cheek and kissed her back, before pulling away several seconds later.

"That was my first kiss. It's kind of a monumental moment in a young woman's life. I'm glad to say I enjoyed myself. I think when we get back, I'll take you up on your offer." she said with a smile and slightly flushed cheeks.

"What offer? What are you talking about?" Vale asked quizzically with a puzzled expression as Rias leaned in and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh. OH!" Vale exclaimed as he realized what she meant. He glanced around to check their progress when he saw that the griffon was on it's descent towards the old Kuoh Academy schoolhouse.

It landed a few minutes later, Vale carried Rias bridal-style(no pun intended) back into her room in the schoolhouse. After he set her down she hurried into her bathroom to change out of the dress as Vale flopped down on her bed sheets. He was so tired, but he could push through it. He just needed to rest his eyes for a bit...

Rias stepped out of her bathroom to see Vale asleep on her bedsheets, snoring contentedly. She covered her mouth with one hand in a small giggle as he walked over to the other side of the bed and tucked Vale in under the covers before stripping down and crawling in next to her new fiancee...

Author's Note: Alrighty here it is. As always, still freaking about the peerage and harem. Rias will not be in his or Issei's harem, as I never see her being a concubine to any man, no matter how strong. But I'm gonna stop posting peerage lists, gotta keep you guessing anyways. Suggestions for either are appreciated. Remember to vote on the poll. Like normal, reviews are super appreciated. This is the 19th Angel, signing off...


	9. Chapter 9

Last of the Line

I do not own Highschool DxD or any of it's characters. I own only Vale.

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, first off I wanna say sorry for the slow update sl0bad, I decided to start working on the second half of a previous project. Second, I'm trying to decide who Vale's Mutation Rook will be. So, I'm gonna let you guys decide. As always, the poll is on my profile. I'm trying to decide between a dragon or a Longinus user. I'm thinking that if Vale's gonna get a mutation piece he's gonna use it right. I mean, Sirzechs' Mutation Rook would've been able to take down the Jabberwocky if he could control his power. Now, onwards to a new, albeit shorter chapter.

Chapter 9- New Devil On Campus

_One hour after Riser Phenex's engagement party..._

"So, what did you wanna show me Ajuka?" Sirzechs asked his fellow Satan and friend as he stepped out of the crimson magic circle. Ajuka was hunched over his desk dressed in an untucked black dress shirt and blue jeans scribbling undecipherably complicated equations and calculations in pencil on a small notebook.

"Do you know what this is?" Ajuka said as he pointed with his pencil to an image on the wall. It was a screen shot of the fight between Riser and Vale. More specifically, it was a close up of the black, segmented dragon tail that had sprouted from Vale's back.

"No idea. I assumed it was a Sacred Gear that Vale had stolen from some unfortunate target during his mercenary days." Sirzechs said with a shrug, Ajuka was always going on about thing he couldn't understand. Usually because Ajuka never took the time to explain himself.

"Nope. No Sacred Gear in the history of ever takes the form of a black dragon tail that allows the use of Abyss Physique powers. Especially not the type Vale uses. It closely resembles a technique developed by a high daylight walker vampire a few hundred years ago. And none of the the Sacred Gears could have used a technique like that, seeing as how it wasn't even invented when they were made. But, I do have a theory." Ajuka said as he pointed his pencil at the ceiling of the cluttered lab.

"Oh? And what's that?" Sirzechs asked with a heavy sigh.

"I think he made it. Think about it, with Drain Zero and Abyss Physique his body would serve as the perfect incubator to create both more Sacred Gears and the consciousnesses necessary to power them. I remember reading something from a few papers the leader of Grigori published several years ago. The Longinus Annihilation Maker's ability to produce monsters, more specifically, Anti-Monsters, works by reading the capabilities of it's enemies and finding the weak points of them and accentuating them in a monster designed to target the target's weakness and incubate it in an environment nearly identical to the conditions the Abyss Physique creates in its possessor. If he used Drain Zero as a scanning and replication device, Vale could be capable of manufacturing fully functional Sacred Gears, whether he knows it or not. The funny thing is, if he had anything other than those two abilities, he wouldn't be able to do this. But, I guess we just figured out what _this _Super Devil's special ability is. How weird is that? One SD makes Sacred Gears, one cancels them." Ajuka said with a chuckle as he continued to scribble.

"Wow... That's impressive. Wait! How did you get a hold of a paper published by Azazel?" Sirzechs asked skeptically as he turned to face the still furiously scribbling Ajuka.

"Who?" Ajuka replied off-handedly, still lost in his own little research and calculation filled world. Sirzechs sighed and face-palmed himself before he reopened his magic circle and headed home to his wife and son.

_Back at Kuoh Academy..._

_Vale found himself standing in a small white room. Though calling it a room might be a bit of a stretch it appeared to simply be a large white cube he was standing in. On the other side of the room there sat what appeared to be, at first glance, a small, puppy-sized animal. Vale began to slowly approach it, noting that it appeared to be dozing peacefully. As he neared it he saw it was a small, black dragon, looking fairly similar to Asia's familiar, Rassei. It had shiny black scales on its back and limbs with gold scales on it belly. Vale knelt down slowly to examine it when he saw it's eyes shoot open, revealing crimson irises with slitted pupils. It sat up slowly and stretched its wings and arms as it yawned adorably, letting out a high-pitched sigh._

"_Hello." it said in a startlingly low voice as it turned one crimson eye on him._

"_...Hello. I guess I should ask what your name is." Vale said after a long pause. The dragon looked down, examining its paws as if seeing them for the first time._

"_I... do not have a name." it said as it looked back up at him._

"_What do you mean? Everyone has a name. Have you forgotten your name or something?" Vale asked with a raised eyebrow._

"_No. I was, never given one. I remember nothing before this room but the feeling of separating from something, followed by the image of wings of flame with flashes of... black lightning and shards of ice. The next thing I knew, I woke up with you standing over me. I don't know why, but I feel safe with you. You seem... I guess the correct term is fatherly." The dragon said as it nuzzled up against Vale's calf._

"_Mmmm... I disagree, everyone who knows me will agree, I'm no father. Listen I don't know what you are but- What the hell is that?" he asked as he heard a faraway woman's voice calling,_

"_Vale c'mon, get up. It's time for school. C'mon, you can't sleep all day." he said as he felt the room start to shake. He looked down to see the dragon seemed to be drifting away from him, like a paper bag caught in the wind._

"_Fear not Father, we shall meet again." the dragon said as it drifted out of sight..._

Vale blinked himself awake to see Rias standing naked in front of him as she rifled through her underwear drawer. His sleepy brain took a few seconds to process the veritable feast for the eyes. The second he realized what he was seeing he patted himself down before scowling,

"Curses!" he exclaimed angrily.

"What? What's wrong?" Rias asked as she turned to face him with a curious look on her face, a red lacy thong held in her hands.

"My pants are still on." he said with a disappointed sigh. Rias giggled as she bent down and pulled the underwear on over her long, shapely, legs. Vale took a moment to appreciate just how pale and flawless her skin was before he heard her say,

"Yeah. Unfortunately you passed out on my bed shortly after we got back. But I'm sure that we'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. After all, we are engaged now." She said as she strode gracefully over to his side of the bed and planted a kiss on his cheek, sending goosebumps rippling across his cheek before placing her hand on his opposite cheek and stroking it gently with her thumb.

"Oh Satan, that's right. Vale Beleth, 17 and engaged. What's the world coming to? Oh, kill me now." Vale said as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. Rias gave another small giggle at his phony resistance as she took her hand off his cheek as she walked over and grabbed the matching bra to her underwear set, slipping it over her shoulders before saying, before saying,

"Can you help me with this part?" Rias asked as she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah, sure. It's weird, one would expect that a man in my position would have more experience taking your bra off than putting it on." He commented as he hooked the bra behind Rias' back.

"Hey, I left your uniform in your bedroom on your trunk. Why don't you go get dressed and we can head to school." Rias said as she turned to face him.

"Ohhhh man, do I have to?" Vale groaned.

"Yes, you have to." Rias said as she turned back around, as she examined herself in her mirror. She reached for her hairbrush as Vale turned and attempted to fall on the bed. Attempted being the operative word, as Vale fell about a foot short and fell toward the ground, about midway through he realized his mistake,

"Oh sweet lord!" he exclaimed with his limbs flailing about, as he hit the ground with a thud, causing his cape to flutter up and land over his face, obscuring it from view. Rias tried her best not to laugh hysterically, it was a large credit to her composure that only a small giggle escaped. Vale did his best to ignore her adorable laugh as he lie there on the floor, red-faced as all get-out.

"Would you like me to pretend that little accident never happened?" she asked as she began to brush her long crimson hair.

"Very much so." Vale squeaked from the from the floor as he got up and tried, and failed, to leave with his dignity intact. He hurried down to his room and opened the door to see Zenki and Goki passed out in his room. Zenki was spread eagled on his bed, while Goki was slumped in the corner. Thankfully none of his stuff was sporting teeth marks. Both of them were still in their human forms thankfully. Vale clapped his hands loudly, startling the twin ogres awake.

"Alrighty, either go away or assume a manageable form. Looks like I'm going to school today." Vale called out as he shut the door behind him. The twins turned to look at each other before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Vale thought they had left until he saw a cute chibi-style key chain with the two of them dangling off in miniature versions of themselves. Each of them with large flower shaped head, like round orbs with five points extending like a pentagram. There was blue Zenki with his single horns and two downward pointing fangs with his eye sockets shaped like the Seven Star Tree of Renewal, next to him dangled red Goki with his two horns and two upward pointing tusks jutting up from his lower jaw with his eye shaped like a pentagram. Vale sighed as he grabbed the key chain and clipped it to his bag which was propped up against his trunk. He saw the uniform laying neatly folded on his trunk as he began to strip out of his formal attire. He had just removed his underwear when he heard his door open, followed by an all-too-familiar sounding scream.

"C'mon Asia, if you keep walking in on me naked, Issei might get the wrong idea." Vale said as he pulled on a pair of underwear and his school dress slacks.

"Kay, you can look again." he said as Asia cautiously peeked out between her fingers before saying,

"Sorry Vale, I was looking for my bag. I left it here on Friday, I must've taken a wrong turn somewhere. I'm really not trying to peek on you I swear." Asia said as she blushed and began to fidget nervously as Vale started to put on his black dress shoes.

"Well damn, and hear I was thinking I might have a shot with my favorite blonde kouhai." Vale said as he grabbed the shirt of his uniform off the trunk and started to button it up leaving the two topmost buttons undone before grabbing and donning the black blazer.

"Wait, what?! W-what do you mean by a shot?" Asia stuttered nervously as she saw Vale open his trunk and toss the tie in as he thought, _not in this lifetime..._

"_Well... _Let's just say I can think of worse people in town to date than the lovely Ms. Argento." Vale said with a shrug as he slung his backpack over one shoulder. He was halfway to the door when he froze in place as Asia asked,

"Hey Vale, what's 'Miracle Levia-tan'?" Asia asked as she pulled a shirt that had the name printed on it out of his trunk to examine it. Before she could get as good look at it, Vale snatched it away.

"Its this silly kid's show down in the Underworld, I used to watch it when I was little. Its kind of a mahou shojou deal, I don't watch it **a ton **anymore but I like to catch it when I can. Its kind of a guilty pleasure. Besides the shirt's for Mil-tan, not me." Vale said as he rubbed his neck and stared at the ceiling, obviously embarrassed.

"I kind of get it. If I still had some sort of way to connect to the Church, I'd hold on to it any way I could. I love my life here, but I still miss it sometimes." Asia said, thankfully not mentioning the fact that the shirt was obviously too small for Mil-tan.

"Well, it's not a huge deal. Let's just head to school." Vale said as he and Asia left to meet up with Rias. They met Rias outside the clubhouse before they headed off towards the new school building.

As soon as they stepped onto the campus Vale heard many of the students, both male and female, begin whispering about the new boy on campus who had showed up his first day with the school's number one beauty and the pretty new foreign girl. Most of the girls' whispers were gossip and theories, while most of they boys' were death threats and condemnations, not that Vale cared about either's opinion or thoughts about him.

The school gate was wrought iron and the school behind it looked like something from an anime. It was a three stories tall European style building at the end of an enormous courtyard flanked by two other buildings on either side. The courtyard was packed with pretty girls and many average guys ogling them. Vale saw Issei with a bald kid and a boy in glasses eating under a tree but decided to ignore them for now.

They continued towards the entrance to the main building and turned down a hallway before turning off onto a stairwell. They walked all the way up too the top floor, Asia and Rias catching up on Issei's condition and recovery after Riser's party, interspersed with run of the mill high school girl things. As they turned off at the top floor until Rias stopped,

"Alright here it is, come on in Vale." Rias said as she gestured inside. The classroom was packed full of beautiful women, and best of all, not another man in sight. _Maybe this won't suck too hard after all, _ Vale thought to himself with a smirk.

"Actually, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to walk Asia back to her classroom. There's just a few things I'd like to discuss in private with her." Vale said as he put his hand on Asia's shoulder. Rias furrowed her brows at Asia as he said this,

"Now Asia-chan, you wouldn't be trying to steal my fiancee away from me would you?" Rias asked severely. Asia flushed as she sputtered

"N-no! Of course not Buchou! I would never" she said as she flailed her empty hands in an attempt to preempt any aggressive action from Rias.

"Hmm... Okay then, hurry back Vale." Rias said, apparently satisfied with Asia's answer, as she headed into the classroom.

"Of course, anything for my Princess." he called after her with a grin. After that, he and Asia headed back towards the stairwell.

"Hey Asia, a little bit of fair warning; Issei's gonna tell you that I knocked him out when he got to Riser's party, this is in fact true. I did it to protect both him and yourself, I just thought you might not enjoy going to his funeral. If, by any chance he remembers waking up somewhere other than the Underworld, I'd like you to tell him it was just a fever dream." Vale said as he accompanied Asia down the stairs.

"Well Vale, I'm not sure I feel comfortable lying to Issei. Though, I do appreciate you protecting Issei from Riser. I'm not sure what I'd do if he died, or was hurt that bad again."

"Well do whatever you feel is best, I just wanted you to hear it from me first. So anyways-" Vale began when he heard a girl call out.

"Hey Asia-chan, who's your friend?" Vale turned to see the source of the voice was a bespectacled girl with brown hair in twin braids. She looked like a girl version of one of the guys he saw Issei with on the way in

"Oh, hello Kiryuu-san. This is my friend, Vale Beleth. What was it you were saying Vale?" Asia said as she turned and gestured to Vale.

"I was saying that if you're gonna walk in on me naked, at least gimme 5 minutes warning to put the whipped cream underwear on." Vale said casually with a grin.

"What?!" Asia said in a voice somewhere between a shriek and a squeak as her face went from peach to crimson in 3.5 milliseconds. Kiryuu covered her mouth with a hand as she began to giggle.

"Kukuku. I never knew you were so lewd Asia, but its nice to see someone beat Hyoudou-kun to the punch." Kiryuu said maniacally.

"I-I'm not! Tell her Vale!" Asia said as she began to tear up.

"I've no idea what you're talking about Asia. But hey, I gotta go Asia. Stay beautiful." Vale said as he turned and strode from the room when he heard Issei call out,

"Hey Vale-san, can I talk to you?" Issei called as he got out of his seat and began to approach him.

"I gotta tell you Issei, that... that just sounds awful." Vale said as he stepped out of the room back into the now crowded hallway. He was on his way back to the stairwell when he saw a familiar white head of hair walk past. He turned to see Koneko walking down the hallway, he didn't see her with anyone so he turned and headed to catch up with her.

"Hey Koneko-chan, wait up." Vale called, Koneko turned around to see him jogging toward her.

"What do you want?" she asked apathetically.

"Just thought I'd come visit my favorite white-haired Rook. So, did you hear we're gonna be classmates?"

"Yeah. Just wanna let you know, trying to ingratiate yourself with me won't get you into Buchou's pants any faster. So you can scram." she said in the same apathetic tone.

"Two things: First, I'm not trying to ingratiate myself. I really like you, you're the only one in the club who sees Issei for the pervert he is, and who actually scolds him for his reprehensible behavior. Second, I'm not trying to get in Rias-hime's pants. I don't like big oppai. I'm lolicon anyways." he said with a grin. Koneko narrowed her eyes at him menacingly. Or as menacingly as a four foot six nekomata could.

"You're lying." she growled as she clenched her fists at her side.

"Hmm, well it looks like you'll never know. He said as he turned and rushed back to his classroom as he heard the bell ring. On his way back to the stairwell, he saw Akeno who was heading towards the same stairwell.

"Hey Akeno-san, how's it going?" he asked as he walked up next to her.

"Ara ara, fancy running into you here Vale-kun. Buchou and I are looking forward to having you in our class." Akeno said as he followed her up the stairs.

"Well, that makes two of you. Be warned, when I get bored I get pervy. So, I apologize in advance if you catch me staring at your oppai."

"Ara, oh Vale-kun, you're shameless. Ufufufu" Akeno said as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Meh, shame is overrated. So how are things?" he said with a shrug.

"I'm fine. That was quite the performance at Phenex-sama's party. Buchou is so lucky to have a man willing to go to such lengths for her." she said as they reached the landing before resuming their climb.

"Oh well thanks for the praise. But, I'd do the same for Koneko, Kiba, Asia, or hell, even Issei. But I wouldn't like doing it for him. But no, I'd move heaven and earth for you. Your dad, Baraqiel, has made me a lot of money over the years. I at least owe him doing anything I need to to save his daughter." he said with a shrug. Akeno stopped her tracks as she heard this groundbreaking news.

"That man... is not... my father." she said slowly with a hard look on her face.

"Oh... Okay, I get it. Trust me, I understand better than anyone not liking your parents. I'm just saying that, if you ever need anything, you can call me. I'll do it, free of charge. Which is a pretty big deal for a guy like me." he said as they arrived at the classroom and Vale held the door open for Akeno. She said nothing as she entered the room.

"Oh, and here's our new student now. Hello Beleth-san and welcome to our class. Would you care to introduce yourself?" the teacher asked as Vale entered the classroom.

"Nah thanks, I'm good. Where do I sit?" he asked as he shoved his hand in his pockets.

"Oh, um..., Why don't you sit next to Gremory-san?" the teacher said awkwardly as she gestured to the empty seat next to Rias.

"Coolness." he said as he sauntered over. As he walked he felt a malevolent set of eyes on him, he glanced over to see a young woman around the same age as Rias with black hair styled in a short bob cut and violet eyes. She wore a pair of red glasses and the Kuoh Academy girls' school uniform. He felt the demonic aura of a pure blood coming off of her as he sat down next to Rias, before leaning over and whispering,

"Who's the Devil chick with the black hair giving me the evil eye?" he whispered surreptitiously to Rias.

"That's Sona Sitri-san. Why do you ask?" she replied quietly.

"Sitri? As in the High-Class family?" he asked slowly.

"That's correct." she whispered back.

"Oh shit..." he said as he laid his head on the desk. This was gonna be a long day...

Author's Note: Alrighty guys, here it is. I know it's the weekend and you're busy but please please please PLEASE review guys, I only got two last time. The lowest out of any chapter ever. I'm not kidding when I say reviews gimme the inspiration to keep writing. But, the decision is ultimately yours. Please don't forget to vote on the poll as well. This is The 19th Angel, signing off...


End file.
